Magic Mixup
by Graficcha
Summary: HP Golden Sun:TLA crossover. After their quest, Felix' party decides to go on another journey, to the world beneath Weyard. They find themselves joining the wizards and attending Hogwarts. And then there's the return of the Stone of Sages...
1. leaving Weyard

**This is only going to be about the second party from The Lost Age, the characters are so much easier to work with. And I like 'em better. One pairing up till now: Picard X Sheba. 'Cuz I think it's cute. Besides, I'm not centering around romance anyway. Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun, and I don't own Harry Potter. HP is for next chapter. **

**Magic Mix-up **

chapter 1: leaving Weyard

part1

Felix opened his brown eyes. It was early in the morning in the strange forest he was in. The small clearing was covered in mist. Slowly, he turned his head and looked around. His sister Jenna and his other allies, Picard and Sheba were still asleep. Their breathing resounded calm and quiet in the air of this blissful dawn.

The brown-haired warrior smiled when he heard his sister silently muttering under her breath. It reminded him of all the times she had been dreaming, of all the times she'd stop mumbling and then wake up, unaware of her ramblings.

A little further, the youngest member of his party, Sheba, had snuggled up to the oldest one. Picard had his arm around her, warming and protecting the small blonde. Lying like that, one wouldn't think that these two were two battle-hardened warriors.

But they were, just like him and his sister. It was the reason they were here. Felix hoped that his decision had been right. He reflected on the few days before they had left Vale.

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It was late in the evening. The soft twilight glow of Sol sparsely shone down upon Vale.

'Hey, what's wrong with you!' Jenna pouted. 'You really have to tell me what's up with you, you've been walking around like you've got a fire in your pants for almost two weeks now! And you're so easily angered lately. I admit I forgot to feed the chickens this morning, but that's no reason to shout at me like that!'

Felix sighed. His anger at his sister immediately dropped a few levels. She was right. He wasn't himself. But he didn't really dare tell her, she might be frightened. Since they had returned from Mars Lighthouse, he hadn't felt at peace with himself. In the beginning, he had tried to relax and enjoy being home again. But he had this strange feeling that just couldn't be neglected. Something was wrong, somehow, somewhere.

He was sure Picard felt it, too. He knew the Lemurian's little quirks better than anyone else. Well, except maybe Sheba. But she had too much respect for him to go mind-digging.

He had seen the Admiral walking up and down the deck of his ship, lost in thought. Sometimes he'd stand still and look up at the sky and shake his head sorrowful. When Felix revealed himself, he'd always act like there was nothing wrong, but he couldn't fool his friend.

'Hey bro', are you all right?' Felix looked up. Jenna seemed really concerned. He made his decision. Together, they'd been trough a lot, she deserved to know what bothered him.

'I'm sorry, Jenna. You're right, I'm acting like a jerk lately...No, don't interrupt me now, OK? It's not your fault if you think that. It's not anyone's fault. It's just... You see, since I was swept away in that storm I've lived the live of a warrior. It wasn't easy adapting to the cold of Prox, and to add to that I had to learn to defend myself against monsters from outside the village. Then I came back to Vale with Saturos and Menardi, which started the whole mess. And since Mars Lighthouse my powers are getting out of control, my energy is overflowing!' Slowly, Felix' tone became more agitated and louder.

'Even for Isaac and Garet it's hard to get used again to actually _living_ somewhere permanently. Jenna, I just... I can't _do_ it anymore. I need to do something, _anything_ to release this power within me. I'll go crazy if I don't get out of this town soon!' he stopped.

In silence and her gaze downcast, Jenna contemplated. Felix waited without saying a word. Then, she looked him in the eyes. Felix jerked back in surprise. It was as if something had put a tiny sparkle of life into her irises. She smiled mischievously.

'Well, brother-mine... I understand. I guess it's just harder for you to hide your true feelings. We all feel that way. I've known you for a long time, bro. I knew it was something like that. I just needed to be sure.'

Now Felix was surprised. She had known?...

'We're all having trouble containing our power. When I try to light a candle, it feels so good casting the spell that I have to be careful not to put the house on fire. I feel it too. Something's fishy, and it's pulling me out there. I spoke to Sheba before she left with Picard; she says it's not from here.' Felix gave her a puzzled look. '...here?' 'Weyard. It's from some other place we don't know about...yet.' '...yet?...' Felix inquired.

Jenna giggled. 'I know you don't talk a lot, but you know, a conversation is more than just repeating the last word said.' Felix blushed. 'Never mind. I meant that Picard has gone back to Lemuria to investigate. They've got this huge library there, he was sure he could go and take a look there. He says there's this weird theory of a world beneath ours.'

'Of course there is. The underworld, no?'

'No, not that one. It's deeper, and they say it's much bigger than Weyard. Weyard is floating above the surface of that world. It's the place you go when you jump off the edge of the world, I heard.' Felix nodded, letting the idea sink in. 'Makes sense. Continue.'

'Apparently, a few aeons back, someone from that world, they call it 'Earth', like our element, came to visit. He had found out about our world and found a way to get here. He said that Weyard is invisible from down there, and that it's protected by a parallel dimension between our and their world. And there's more, like the...' 'Wait a minute...' Felix interrupted her ramble. 'Just how do you know all these things?' Now Jenna smiled. 'Got me there. Unlike you, I kept writing letters to Lalivero, and Sheba answered them. She went with Picard to Lemuria to help him searching, and she wrote me everything they found out.'

'And you didn't tell me...'

'Well, no. We wanted to keep it a secret before we were absolutely sure about it. We didn't tell Isaac and the rest anything, either. Besides, we thought you'd think it's a stupid idea...'

'Hell, no! Now we can go and find out what's going on down there. That feeling's been nagging us all for so long...It must mean something.'

'It does mean something, Felix.' a soft, flowing voice called out from the shadows. Felix turned around to see Picard and Sheba advancing towards him. 'Something's going on on Earth, and I don't think they can handle it. Sheba and I think it's got something to do with the disappearance of the stone of sages.'

That was true. There had been no trace of Alex or the stone in the remnants of mount Aleph. Felix didn't seem too surprised, though.

Now Sheba started talking. 'Weyard is changing. We should face it. Our Psynergy has over-developed, we're all having a hard time keeping them restrained. We're dangerous to our own world. And down there is a whole planet waiting to be discovered, and it might need our help. If Alex is down there wreaking havoc with the Stone, they'll need us to stop him. If he's not there, it'd still be a great chance to learn more about Weyard and the Earth. Admit it Felix. We're all eager to go on a quest again.' The small blonde looked her leader straight into the eyes. Picard and Jenna were also waiting for his reaction. Three pairs of eyes, maraud, golden and fuchsia all the same were locked on Felix' own dark, mystic brown ones.

'So it's my decision? You realise that we might never get back.' All three nodded. 'We're aware of that, but I'm not bound anymore to Lemuria.' Picard said. 'I already said goodbye to my fa...to Faran. He understands.' Sheba added. Felix looked at his sister.

'I go where you go. I'd never let you go alone. And now I realise more than ever that you're a free soul. You should do what your heart tells you to do. If you weren't serious about it, you'd never have such an outburst like a few moments back.' 'But our family...' 'Don't worry. They understand it, too. They already know we're going.' She pointed to the front door of their wooden house. His parents were standing at the threshold. They had been standing there since Picard and Sheba had arrived. 'Mom...dad...'

'Son, I'm not going to speech now. You're old enough to decide on your own. Don't worry about me and your mother. You gave us our lives back when we were the dragon. The least thing we can do is let you live your life in freedom. For youngsters like you, Vale must be awfully peaceful. Me and your mom felt that way, too, a long time ago. Felix, we're proud of you, you deserve freedom. It'd be selfish if we asked you to stay.' his father said.

His mother had tears in her eyes, but she looked happy none the less. 'Just...Just take care. And look after Jenna. We trust you to protect her.' Jenna blushed awkwardly ' Mo-om...'

Felix went up to them and embraced them both. He was almost as tall as his father and a few inches above his mother's head, his long, ragged cape almost obscured them from view. 'Thank you...'

The emotion became a bit too much for the ever-tough Jenna. With tears in her eyes she rushed up to her family and hugged them all closely. She buried her head in her father's chest and sniffed. 'Goodbye...' she whispered. 'We'll see you again, don't worry, mom, dad.'

Sheba poked Picard in his side. He bowed down to her a little to listen. 'What?' 'Let's get outta here...' 'Oh! right...' Together they left, giving their friends' family some privacy.

TBC

By the way, what kind of shipping is PicardXSheba anyway?


	2. leaving Weyard: the jump

**Disclaimer: I don't own GS and HP. Stop reminding me. **

**KaiserMonkey and Shinomori Kyo: **Thanks! This is weird, this story is like half an hour online and I already got reviews! While I was writing part two of the first chapter...I just thought it was a bit too long : p

part 2 

About half an hour later, Felix and Jenna caught up to their allies just outside Vale. The sky was dark now, and their path was only lighted by the silver glow of Luna and her stars. It was a gorgeous, promising night. There was no need for words. In total silence, the four walked along the path that had started Isaac's journey. They all felt relieved beyond word that they were travelling again, together.

It was dangerous, but they were with people they each trusted with their lives.  
It was hard, but they'd help each other on the road when one of them lost courage.  
It was lonely, sometimes, but there'd always be someone to cheer you up and remind you that you were not alone.  
It was life the way they needed and wanted it.

Jenna interrupted the peaceful silence. 'Just where are we going?'

'My ship. I left it on the riverside not far from here.' Picard answered.

'And then?'

' Sheba'll teleport us away from the mainland, and then we'll set sail to wherever we want to jump.'

'Wait-a-minute...did you say...'jump'?' Jenna stuttered.

'Of course.' Felix said. 'You told me that that other world lies under ours, so we'll have to jump to get down there, no?'

'B...but there's got to be another way than just jumping! I'm way too young to end like a stain on an unknown planet!' Jenna shouted.

'Keep it down! Don't worry, we're adepts, remember? We won't die. We'll find a way to slow us down once we get there. We always do.' Felix reassured her.

'_I know, but he _knows_ I'm afraid of heights..._ Jenna thought. But she kept that to herself.

When they arrived at the ship, a horde of Vermins jumped out of the grass. Immediately, the party went into offensive mode. With their enhanced speed, they dodged their attacks easily. Only Picard, the slowest got grazed by one of their fork-like weapons. On the beginning of their first quest, that might have hurt a bit, but now, he hardly noticed. The privateer took revenge by unleashing one of his Djinn, Mist. Obviously happy to be in action again, the little creature knocked the Vermin's lights out in one massive blow. As a follow-up attack, Sheba summoned Mercury and caught four of them by surprise.

Jenna was literally 'fuming', casting low-level fire spells at random at the critters. 'Heehaw!' She was really enjoying herself while chanting and singeing one after the other. Felix was busy defending his sister from attacks from behind with Granite. When he got fed up of defending, he unsheathed the Sol-blade. It was dully shining with anticipation for the battle after waiting so long. Felix almost lazily took a swipe at the Vermins. The sword's tip suddenly flared into life, unleashing a giant Megiddo. The meteor-like energy crashed into the blue creatures, wiping them all out. 'Yeah!' Jenna shouted. 'That was one of the best you managed up till now!' Sheba congratulated Felix, jumping up and down with glee. Even Picard wasn't able to hide his excitement. 'That was _fun_!'

They were back! They could handle anything!

Letting the emotions ebb away, they climbed on board of Picard' ship. They knew it was his pride. The majestic Lemurian drakar was really a sight to behold. During their quest, it had gotten the wings of Anemos, and a fully functional cannon. Even if Jenna had become a little seasick the first time on the boat, it was filled with good memories.

Picard opened the door to the main cabin and went down the stairs. Penetrating deeper into the ship, he made his way to the power-room, and placed the black orb (or 'thingy', like Jenna liked to call it) into its place. On the deck, Felix could feel the Psynergy flowing through the construction. It was the best feeling he ever had.

When Picard 'resurfaced', Sheba had already drawn out her treasured Teleport-Lapis. The rest gathered around her and helped her focusing. A powerful aura of Psynergy enveloped them and broke them all into swirling atoms. A split-second later, the boat appeared on the shore of the Apoji islands, startling the wits out of the partying people. It didn't take long to make clear who they were, however. The people still remembered them from their adventure in Aqua Rock. They even gave them permission to leave the ship in the well-protected harbour. If Isaac or one of his friends should come by, they were allowed to take it with them.

Walking through the now dark streets of the exotic town, careful not to wake any of its inhabitants, Felix and co. were mentally preparing them for the jump. Well, all except for Sheba. The young Adept could barely contain her excitement. She was looking forward to he sensation of the wind, of the feeling of the free fall. Well, it was her element after all.

Finally, the four arrived at the Eastern shoreline of the island. Felix halted a few metres before the edge. The edge of the world. His brown ponytail and his dark-green cape waved in the chilling wind that was blowing towards them from the void, warning them not to fall off.

'Are you all completely sure about this?...'

His friends nodded, and when they realised he couldn't see that in the darkness they all confirmed with a determined 'Yes.'

They stepped forward to stand next to Felix, Jenna on his left, Sheba and Picard to his right, and clasped their hands together. They let their thoughts carry them away. The fire-adept let her natural curiousness take the better of her, gripped her staff a bit tighter and tried to forget how scared she was.  
The smaller figure of Sheba closed her eyes, and let herself be caressed by the wind. She was his to carry where she should go.  
Next to her, Picard said goodbye to the oceans, to the water of Weyard. His aqua hair and that strange silk headdress of his got blown in all directions, the wind tugged at his tunic, but he didn't care. He imagined that he was standing on his ship, in a storm, fighting the waves and enjoying it. He'd give it all up for his friend, the Adept who seemed to have that effect on everyone. Sure, he was much older than Felix, but when it came to life-experience, there wasn't much difference. He respected Felix, as a man and as a friend.

'Ready?' Felix asked, his tone calm and relaxed as always.

''C...can I count?' Jenna asked, still a bit nervous. Felix smiled. 'Of course.' Sheba said, her voice dreamy. 'On the count of three?' Picard asked. Jenna gulped. 'Yeah. Here goes!'

'One...  
two...

...Three!'

And they jumped.

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...In an instant, they were falling. Gravity tugged at them, pulling their bodies down and increasing their speed. Below them was nothing, above them the sky. Jenna squeezed her brother's hand so tightly her knuckles turned white. They clung together, falling down head-first. Picard had tumbled over when jumping and was falling feet-first, thus steadying his fall.

After the first seconds, Felix twisted his body around and took a standing position, too. His cape fluttered above him in he wind. He helped his sister getting upright, but him and Picard together didn't manage to get the ecstatic Sheba in the same position. She hung between them, plunging downwards head-first like a hawk. They weren't worried, however. Sheba looked as if she'd been skydiving since she was born. Which was true in a way...

Suddenly, a softly glowing mist obscured their view. Through the howling wind, Felix could hear Picard shouting something about the parallel-dimension between Weyard and the Earth. They fell through it like it was nothing more than a cloud.

The sight under it was breath-taking. When Jenna had said that the Earth was bigger than Weyard, the had made the understatement of the century. This world was _huge_!

Felix gasped at the sight of the enormous landmasses. He felt his power surge, he suddenly felt reborn. Picard almost lost his balance when he jerked in shock when seeing the huge oceans of the new planet. Jenna didn't see the fire, but she could feel the oceans of magma boiling under the surface in her bones. From above, she could easily see the tectonic plates and the volcanoes on their edges. Sheba let out a cry in joy and pleasure when she felt the power of her element seeping through her clothes.

Suddenly, the ground below was coming a bit too close for comfort. The four Adepts prepared their Psynergy. Sheba conjured an upwards vortex of warm air, slowing them down. Then they had to see how the get down themselves. They didn't notice that Picard was slowing himself radically by spreading out his headdress, using it as some kind of a parachute. When he was about two-hundred metres above them, he let himself fall again, plunging down head-first.

Below was a forest. For Felix, that was ideal. Using a wild growth spell, he made the trees go haywire and formed something like a net. Jenna clung herself to her brother, using the same spell after quickly trading a Djinn. Sheba was still slowing down her fall with wind spells, and cast worried glances over to Picard. He didn't seem to do anything yet. About a hundred metres above the ground, Felix and Jenna fell into the tree-net they had formed. It held, but just to make sure Felix had used Mud to slow them down a bit more. Hovering still seventy metres above them was Sheba. Like a dove, she gently landed next to them on the treetops. 'Felix, where's Picard!' she frantically shouted.

They looked around, finding no trace of him, until he suddenly zoomed past them, down to the ground. He still had an amazing speed, and for a moment he had his friends really worried about him. They held their breaths. Sheba's heart stopped beating for a moment.

Suddenly they heard an explosion from below, and a split-second later a geyser shot up from the ground. On top of the water-beam Picard was stretching out his arms, 'pushing' against the stream of water. When he appeared next to them again, he vaulted off the stream and came down with a crash in the net of plants.

Motionless, he lay there for a few moments. Only his chest was heaving up and down while he panted, trying to catch his breath again. Sheba ran up to him, stumbling over the plants and almost falling down. By the time she got there, he had stood up again. Soaked and cold he caught her when she tripped again, smiling. Only then he noticed the little blonde was crying.

'Don't you ever...do that...again.' she sobbed. 'Hey...it's OK. I didn't mean to scare you...' the Lemurian tried to calm her. 'Shhh. I'm here now. We're all safe.' Slowly, his soothing voice comforted her. She hugged him and snuggled into his tunic like a lost child, not caring whether she got wet or not. Together, they made their way back to the siblings.

They were already forming a way down with plants and rocks. Jenna looked up from the work. 'You sure had us scared there.' 'Tsk. And here I thought you guys had faith in me.' Picard joked. That moment Felix climbed up from the 'stairs'.

'We can go down now, it's secure.'

When they had firm ground under their feet again, Jenna kissed the ground. 'Never again...' she nervously smiled.

Like old times when they travelled in the darkness, Felix scared possible monsters off by sending small tremors off in all directions. Finally, they reached a safe-looking clearing.

Jenna made a little bonfire where Picard and Sheba could dry their clothes, and after that, they laid down. In a few hours dawn would break. They should get some sleep before that.

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About a mile away, a certain old wizard was woken from his sleep by a tremor. He sent his phoenix out to investigate. When not much long after that more tremors occurred, he frowned. 'Wonder what this means...'

A bit more miles away, a boy with messy dark hair and a scar on his forehead woke up with a start. That certainly was a strange dream. His scar didn't hurt this time. He had dreamt that he was falling, and seeing the Earth from above. In the end, he recognised the forbidden forest beneath him. When he was about to hit the ground, he woke up.

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Felix concluded his contemplations. Today they'd start discovering this magnificent planet...

TBC


	3. discovery and decision: discovery

**disclaimer:** me no own Golden Sun and Harry Potter sniff

savinglifelessness: Good remark, but they're (at least in my theory) not normal muggles. Even in Weyard they were different because of their heritage, so I guess they're wizards, too. Sort of...

Neko-chan n Inu-sama: Thanks for the review! Here's the update, just for you! (And the other reviewers, of course) Meep!

**chapter 2: discovery and decision **

part 1: 

Dark.

That was the only word that could describe the unusual forest Felix and his party were venturing through.

Jenna was going first, lighting the way with her self-made torch (a stick with the Mars Djinn Torch sitting on its tip). Usually, she'd have made jokes about their surroundings, or telling stories about Vale, or just talking for the heck of it, but this forest seemed to quieten her completely.

Behind her, Sheba and Picard followed. The little blonde was still fast asleep, and dreaming contently, while the Lemurian carried her on his back, sometimes holding her in his arms.

Over night, his clothes hadn't dried completely because of the fog that seemed to appear and disappear at any given time. Felix noticed that his ally was shivering uncontrollably while advancing through the dimly lit forest. Well, it _was_ quite chilly. Their breath was visible when passing through occasional sunlit clearings. There, the cold remained, but strangely enough, the sky looked sunny and warm. It was like there was a veil of coolness over the wood. And Picard was having trouble with it.

Felix quickened his pace and caught up with the aqua-haired mariner. He didn't even have to ask.

'It's alright.' Picard whispered tiredly. He nudged his head to the sleeping girl in his arms. 'She's keeping me warm.'

Felix nodded. When his friend said that he'd manage, he believed him. He fell back two metres again and listened.

_No sound... Strange. Usually, a forest is filled with noises._

The only thing he hard was the echo of his ally's and sister's footsteps on the mossy ground.

But then there was something else...someone was following them, about twenty metres behind him. Then, very faintly, something caught his ear. Felix turned around and waited. The strange rasping and howling noise didn't stop, but didn't come closer either. Behind him, Jenna's light was getting fainter and fainter. Shrugging off a slight nausea the sound caused, the warrior turned to the light and hurried to catch up, silent as a tiger in the semi-darkness.

When Picard cast him a questioning look, he put his finger over his lips ('shhhh...') and pointed his thumb at the darkness, looking Picard straight in the eyes. The mariner caught the dark look and nodded. He glanced around and apparently saw something in the fog behind them. His goldenish eyes widened in shock.

In a split second, he laid Sheba on the ground, careful not to hurt her, pushed Felix out of the way and unsheathed Excalibur. The weapon let out a howl and its special attack lit about thirty square metres, alerting Jenna and revealing their enemy.

A black, hideous cloaked thing was screeching in the sudden light, clawing at it with a slimy, rotten hand. Picard stood there frozen like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, trembling hands clinging to his sword with all their might. Before he could move out of the way, the creature floated over to him and made a sucking noise.

Picard tried to resist, but eventually, all power left his already tired body. He dropped his sword and yelled out in pain and fear, his nothing-seeing eyes wide. A sob escaped his by now blue lips. While reliving every past disaster, he cried.

Felix and Jenna watched it happen without understanding what was going on, trying to get their limbs to move, but to no avail. Until the Earth adept snapped. He drew his sword.

Felix roared and attacked.

Confused, Sheba scrambled to her feet and mind read Felix to find out what was going on. A wave of anger, fighting spirit and...fear? washed over her. Hastily, she retreated and prepared to fight.

Meanwhile, the Dementor had finished sucking out Picard' happy feelings and went for its next opponent. The mariner slumped to the ground, unconscious. Jenna rushed to him and immediately cast one of her Aura Psynergy, but he didn't wake up. Only the blue colour vanished, making him at least _appear_ okay.

A few metres further, Felix was slashing the Sol Blade at the black creature. The Dementor dodged most of the blows, until Felix managed to land a hit on its body. Strangely enough, it was as if the brown-haired warrior had hit nothing but a slimy substance which only slowed down the sword a little. Felix gasped and completed the arc, jumping backwards as he regained normal control of his weapon. A flash lighted the forest as Sheba cast Spark Plasma on the Dementor, dazing it long enough for Felix to attack it with the Eclipse-summon.

The mighty dragon appeared above the forest and unleashed its breath. The flow of pure, shining Psynergy cascaded down on the Dementor, leaving the trees unscathed, but ripping the monster apart. The dragon vanished again, leaving the four adventurers alone in the dark forest, shocked and breathless.

'Good one, Felix.' Jenna congratulated her brother quietly, almost whispering and not leaving her eyes off the unconscious Lemurian.

'I had to be merciless. Taking that...that _thing_ on with a sword didn't work, and I didn't want to endanger you all. I don't now what it does to us, but I wasn't going to let you all experience it first-hand.' Felix said. ' Apparently, its not very healthy to get caught in its attack.' he added, looking at his fallen comrade with worry in his brown eyes.

He bowed down to scoop up the Lemurian, but at that moment, Picard started to move again. Jenna jumped up in surprise, and stepped back to give her friend some room. Shaking and shivering, Picard managed to stand up, almost falling over a few times. Only after he stood somewhat secure on his own legs again, he really regained awareness of the situation.

'What...in the name of Luna...was that?...' he asked, breathing heavily with his eyes half-open in the dim light.

'I don't know yet, but at least we could defeat it. I only hope this forest isn't filled with these things.' Felix answered.

Jenna thought for a moment and then added: 'I don't think there are any more of them.', gesturing around her. 'Just feel the air, it's gotten warmer all of a sudden.' She paused. 'I mean, I'm not the only one who was cold,...right?' Sheba and Felix nodded. Picard didn't, he felt too dizzy, but made a faint noise that sounded like a relieved 'yes'.

Now, the three unharmed adepts turned to face the shivering Lemurian. 'So?'

'What...do you mean?' he weakly said, still panting a little.

'Well, that thing...what did it do?' Jenna asked.

A pained look crept into Picard's eyes. Suddenly, the proud warrior seemed to shrink a little, as if he was ashamed of something. 'I...I couldn't...I couldn't make it stop...' he nervously stammered, still trying to catch his breath. 'I...I felt as if...I was losing...you...all...'his voice trailed, his gaze becoming glassy and withdrawn. 'It was...cold...and lonely...so alone...like in Lemuria.' Now his voice was calm, and almost too quiet to hear.

Felix cast Sheba a worried look. Extreme anxiety was reflecting in her green eyes.

Picard continued in a monotone, emotionless voice. 'I didn't want it...so lonely...I wanted to live...so badly...I ran, but...' now emotion came back '...but I'll never run again...two hundred years I ran!... and then I found you. I was so afraid when I first left, but you...you guided me when I needed it. I _had_ to rely on you! And then this thing made me see my life without you. I felt as if...as if I'd' he was whispering frantically, when Sheba interrupted. 'As if you'd never be happy again...'

In shock, he looked into her eyes. 'Yes...that's it...' Those two pools of jewel-like shining green made him come back to reality. Those teary eyes, that had seen the blackest place of his mind...Before he could (as if he wanted to) object, the small blonde seer had flung herself around him, hugging him tightly, comforting and seeking comfort. 'I'm sorry...' they both whispered.

'Aww...'

The couple jerked up, only to see a contently grinning Jenna looking at them. Felix looked relieved to find his friend only a bit shaken, but unharmed. Blushing, Picard and Sheba untangled themselves. 'Welcome back.' Felix said, now calm as if nothing had ever happened. Picard smiled wearily. 'That was awful...sorry for worrying you. But anyway, I guess I'm okay now.'

'Well, then let's get going. Even if it's not so cold anymore, I'll be glad to be out of this forest. It creeps me out!' Jenna said cheerfully, happy that no one was injured. The others welcomed the idea of leaving, and mere moments later, there were on their way.

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As the minutes passed by, more sounds and noises began returning to the forest. Sheba could've sworn she had seen a horse with a horn on its head dashing over the path, while Jenna had once jumped into her brother's arms when she saw something big and hairy with eight legs crawling in the tree-branches, followed by a homing noise of millions of little spiders. They had wisely made a circle around them. Also, Felix noticed an abnormal amount of owls hunting for insects and small mammals.

After about two hours, in which Jenna had started chatting with Sheba again, Picard, who had taken the lead with the now fairly useless torch, gave a (rather raspy) yell.

'Hey, I think we made it!'

Jenna broke into a dash and joined the water-adept, followed by Felix and Sheba. Indeed, just a few metres away, the forest stopped. As the four advanced into the open field, a castle came into view. A castle this huge they had never seen. Maybe the castle of the Queen of Bilibin was this big by now, but it could never be so...so...impressive...

And this castle had its own lake! And greenhouses, they could see the plants inside, and gardens, and ...it was just beautiful. Whoever lived here must be very wealthy. Well, here they'd probably find out more about Earth, and maybe Alex had been here, too.

Felix took the lead, and together, they made their way into the building.

Well, they made their way _to_ the castle and went...

...searching for the entrance...**-.-' **

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**AN: I'm just assuming the adepts _can_ defeat dementors by using Psynergy. And as for why that creature was there, I guess Voldemort'll have them roaming all over the place by now. **

**R&R please...shiny pleading eyes **


	4. d and d: decision part 1

Disclaimer: Not mine...

Neko-chan n Inu- sama: OK, OK, Here's your update. I split the chapter in two, so it's easier to read...for me ;D

savinglifelessness: Well, I kinda didn't read the 6th book yet. I'm still waiting for it. So this story'll be about the sixth year. BTW, If you think the new DADA teacher should be included in this story, you can mail me what he's like. If not, I've got my own teacher up and ready. (OC)

part 2: decision 

As an adventurer, there was no doubt that Felix had seen a lot of magnificent things in his life, but even he could help gasping at the sight of the beautifully decorated entrance hall of Hogwarts' castle.

It had taken the four adepts about fifteen minutes to walk around the castle and finally find the front door, and now they were standing in front of the large stairway that split in two halls and lead deeper into the castle. Jenna, who had previously been the first to almost literally 'burst' in, was now slowly making her way back to her team, backwards and wide-eyed. Felix and Sheba took their time to let the splendour sink in, and even Picard seemed astounded after glancing around and examining the construction.

They all wondered who had built this, and when Sheba looked at the ceiling in puzzlement, she made a squeak-like noise that sounded a bit like a high-pitched 'wow'.

'Oh...my...god...' Sheba whispered in awe at the sight of the sky over her head. This was...too good for words! A transparent ceiling, not just a skylight or a glass window, but as clear as this one...that was exactly what she had always wanted since she was little. That way, she was protected from the weather, but she didn't feel quite as..._imprisoned_...that way. She loved star- and cloud gazing, staring into the depths of her element and practically _feeling_ herself falling.

In a world where things like this were possible, she'd feel at home for sure. With rekindled hope, she turned to Felix and the rest. Smiling at the sight of them all looking upwards with their mouths open, she touched the nearest member of her group, Jenna.

/_This place could be better that we thought.../_

Jenna gave a start at the sudden interruption of her own thoughts. When she saw Sheba's hand on her side and the little blonde smiling dreamily, she shook her head lightly and smiled.

_/You'll really have to stop doing that./_

Sheba snickered delightfully.

_/But you're right. We'll have to be cautious at all times, but at least there's civilisation here that is able to build this kind of monuments./_

_/Hmm-hmm.../_

There was no need for words.

Sheba removed her hand, respecting her team-mates enough not to pry into their minds, which she'd automatically do when staying connected at a level of touch. In this case, touching was necessary to be able to 'speak' to Jenna via mind read. Listening she could do just by standing near her 'victim'.

The peaceful scene was interrupted when suddenly, the ground shook in a violent tremor.

Felix could only manage a startled 'Ack!' before he feel to the floor backwards in an awkward arc, not having regained his balance in time from the staring-contest with the ceiling. The heavy clattering noise of his sword colliding with the ground was followed by a shrill laughter coming closer and someone shouting.

'I swear, Peeves, this is the last time you messed with Snape's experiments in the dungeons! One day, you'll blow up the whole school! This time, I'm gonna get you expelled for sure!'

Felix had barely managed to sit up straight when something heavy hit him in the chest and knocked him over again.

'Auww...Peevesy flew too low, Peevesy must've hit another ghost...' , the always-annoying poltergeist whined, clutching his head with one hand and holding firmly onto a purple vial with the other. When he noticed who he had bumped into, he paled –in his case, he became so white, he almost looked like a living snowman- and shrieked. 'C-c-c-can't be true! Where is the ghost, young man? Can't 've been you for sure...' Peeves babbled, suddenly very unsure of himself.

Before he or the adepts could recover from their shock, the first of having _crashed_ into a human, the last of seeing a (more-or-less) intelligent ghost bump into their leader, Filch, Hogwarts' caretaker and all-round despised janitor, arrived at the place, panting and red-faced.

'Ahaah! Finally got you, you little...' he shouted like a madman at the still flabbergasted spook. Without really realizing that there were four young people staring at him, he pointed at the by now standing Felix. 'Here, hold onto him for a while, I'll go fetch the headmaster!' He tried to pull Peeves closer to Felix, failing miserably, until Felix took the ghost's wrist without gripping _through_ the vapour-like substance. Filch was too busy enjoying his victory to pay the unusual fact any attention. 'Good boy! Wait here, I'll be back in a minute!' the squib shouted , already running on the stairs, hurrying to get Dumbledore and leaving four _very_ confused adepts behind.

'What in Sol's name was _that_?' Jenna asked, turning to her brother. 'And what _is_ that!'

Felix looked completely lost. First he fell down, then he got knocked over again, and then this madman ordered him to make sure this weird ghost didn't flee, the last one looking not pleased at all now that he had recovered from his first shock. 'Let me go.' he said in a way that made Felix even more determined not to do so. Felix looked the creature in the eyes sharply in complete silence, quietening Peeves.

Eventually, Picard came closer and pinched the poltergeist, leaving behind a greenish-bluish stain, that faded away as soon as his touch was gone. Peeves almost got a heart-attack (well...sorta) and nearly faded out of view, becoming transparent with shock. 'No, not you too! It's not possible, Peevesy must be dreaming...'he shrieked, struggling to get free, but his spiritual power was no match for Felix' physical force and Psynergy.

Picard nodded, deep in thought. 'I see. A being consisting of semi-psynergetic substance. Non-adepts can't hold onto it, because their soul is not…it's substance is not as firm as ours. Felix,' he turned to the brown-haired adept 'I guess you've got a natural advantage, because your element has the greatest density. I think that Jenna, since she has a fire-soul, isn't able to touch this guy here.'

The fiery-tempered redhead immediately flared. 'Why shouldn't I be able to do the stuff Felix can? I'll show you...' She neared the now frantically trashing ghost and tried to touch him. Her hand slid through his body more or less harmlessly, leaving behind a red-glowing trail that first blackened and then faded. Jenna frowned. 'Bleh, whatever. I guess you're right, Picard. How do you know anyway?'

That seemed to have tickled the Lemurian's pride. 'Nah, it's nothing. I just spent a lot of time in the Lemurian library, that's...' He was interrupted by a surprised shriek and then laughter from Peeves. Sheba was waving her hand through the ghost's belly excitedly, her soul leaving behind a silvery-purple haze.

'Ahaaahaaha...please...hihi...make her stop...it tickles!' Peeves was giggling painfully like a schoolgirl while Sheba now drew circles and other patterns with her index finger. ' Sheba...I don't think he really enjoys that.' Felix reasoned. When she stopped, still smiling, Peeves looked at Felix as if he was his saviour or something.

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Meanwhile, Filch was running through the corridors. By now, the realisation had come that something was wrong about the whole situation. When he arrived at the entrance to the headmaster's tower, he skidded to a halt. When he suddenly realised what exactly was so strange, his face paled. He began imagining incredible doom-scenarios of the dead that had revived to come and conquer Hogwarts and Voldemort who had sent them and other kinds of rubbish, but he calmed himself down and said the password. _Pixie Stix!_

The entrance slid open, and much to Filch's horror and surprise, Dumbledore was already standing on the doorstep. 'Oh, I guess you already know...'

'Know what, my best, I only know that I was going to fetch me some tea and then go for a walk.' the old man said matter-of-factly, confusing Filch even more. 'B-but there's something downstairs I need to show you.' Dumbledore smiled. 'Did you finally catch Peeves, maybe?'

Filch nodded hastily.' Yes, but...' Dumbledore smiled amusedly, not quite believing it. 'This, I must see.'

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Five minutes and a cup of tea later (Dumbledore ad insisted on it, to calm Filch down), the two wizards arrived downstairs, where they were awaited by an excited Jenna, a dreamy Sheba, an interested Picard and last but not least, a mightily annoyed looking Felix.

Now, Filch had the chance to take the visitors in, and while doing so, his eyes became wider and wider. _Medieval clothing, swords, staves, armoury and holding onto ghosts...how could I have overlooked that..._ Obviously, Dumbledore had noticed, too, but he didn't show it quite as offending as his janitor.

'Welcome you all. First, I guess I must apologise for letting you all wait.' He received an odd calm look from Felix. The others mumbled something like 'No problem', still watching the strange old geezer, who reminded Jenna a bit of Kraden, only taller and older. 'And secondly, I must thank you for 'capturing our mischief-maker, so I can have a talk with him later.'

Peeves, who had been fiddling with his clothes, now looked up and paled again. Dumbledore drew his wand and gestured with it to the poltergeist. Pallid bluish ropes shot up from the ground and tied up the ghost. The four adepts gasped, they hadn't felt the magic at all, and they hadn't seen the usual blue circles they tended to overlook when they cast a spell.

'I never managed to hit him with the spell before, I wasn't going to run after him all day, even if I could.' Dumbledore told them, unaware of their puzzlement. 'You can let go now.' he added with a friendly look at Felix. The warrior let go of the tangled ghost's wrist, leaving behind a rather dark brown-greenish aura. This, the headmaster noticed, but he decided to leave that matter for another time.

'Let's go to another place where we can talk.' Dumbledore invited them.

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TBC soon R&R please, I like reviews!


	5. d and d: decision part 2

discmaimer: Blah... I don't own Golden Sun TLA, and I don't own Harry Potter either. (hey, I typed _disc-maimer..._foreshadowing?...)

**Neko-chan n Inu-sama** Jenna's not really jealous, just a bit disappointed. She's too carefree to be bothered, at least I think so. BTW, thanks for reviewing every time!

**Steeple333** Don't worry, he's not joining You-know-who. Glad you like the story. : )

**savinglifelessness** You're right. D is awfully calm about it, but who says he doesn't know more about Weyard and the lighthouses? Felix left out the most important part of his story, too. And remember Harry's hearing in the fifth book? Dumbledore is always calm, methinks... Also, I think I'm going to use my own teacher for this story. When _he_ is teaching, things could become too complicated. The DADA teacher won't be of much importance anyway. But still, thanks for the reviewing and the e-mail!

discovery and decision: decision part 2 

A few minutes later, they had settled themselves in the great hall, leaving the ghost to wait an the entrance hall. Dumbledore didn't feel like going all the way to his office, and with the way those four were dressed, armoury and all, it'd get a bit crowded in there. Well, he just didn't feel like having to clean up later when one of them whacked something over with their weapon. So the great hall it was.

Sitting at the Hufflepuff-house table, the adepts in a row, opposite them the headmaster and the caretaker of the school, they were, again, silenced by the splendour of the castle and the ceiling. They also couldn't help but notice the giant hourglasses in the back, the house banners and the teachers' table.

Filch was the first to speak. 'So?' The adepts turned to him, waiting for their leader to speak. 'So?' Filch reddened, becoming his old students-hating self. 'So why are you here, what are you, why can you!...' he questioned them angrily, getting impatient with Felix' relaxed but alert way of listening to him, and getting cut of by Dumbledore's powerful voice, that _did_ manage to impress Felix a bit.

'Mister Argus Filch!' the janitor immediately ceased shouting, now silent but still distrusting the newcomers. 'That's no way to speak to our guests.' He faced the adepts again, smiling reassuring and amusedly. 'But we _do_ want to know more about you.' 'And we about you.' Felix calmly added.

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Felix told them about Weyard, first hesitantly, but soon trusting the kind headmaster. (Even if that last one had to ensure them that Filch was ok, too.) Dumbledore listened with great interest, telling them that he had heard about that world, which made the conversation much easier, but never really dug deeper into the matter.

Meanwhile, Sheba kept the four of them in touch. Picard had asked her to tell Felix over mind read not to tell anything about Lemuria, Sheba had done so. Their leader didn't mention it. But Jenna needed to know, too, so the four made sure they were and stayed linked during the conversation. Dumbledore didn't seem to notice, even if Felix sometimes stopped speaking for a split second.

That way, the adepts avoided Lemuria, the lighthouses (they had 'adventured' for the heck of it'), the djinn and the stone of sages. They _did _ask if anyone had seen or heard of Alex, but Dumbledore replied negatively.

There were no further questions, except for the fact that Felix hadn't told him their element. Grinning, Jenna made him guess. After examining them all, Dumbledore guessed right. He also guessed their ages. He judged Felix to be much older, like 24 instead of 18. Jenna and Sheba's ages were guessed right away (17 and15), as for Picard'...the old wizard though a while and guessed 18. Sweatdropping at the looks of his female allies, he lied and told him that it was correct.

Still, the blue-haired mariner received a gentle, mischievous look from the headmaster when no one but himself was looking. Even as a 213 years old Lemurian, he couldn't take it to look back and reddened in shame as he turned away from the steady gaze. Dumbledore, trusting as ever, made no fuss around it, much to Picard's relief. _I owe you one. Thanks for trusting me._ his now confident look at Dumbledore told. The wizard nodded.

None of the other's in the room were aware of the silent conversation between the two old men.

When they told the wizard about the Dementor, Filch dove under the table, only to come out in surprise when he realised that they had beaten it without using the _Patronus_-charm.

Then it was the wizard's turn to tell them about Earth. He told them about the technology (not much, but enough to give them all a headache) and then about the wizard world. That made more sense to Felix' party. Also, they now understood the difference between the raw, element-based Psynergy and the much more complex, but much weaker magic. Jenna immediately recognised the Accio-spell as a form of 'catch' and the apparating as an easier-to-use teleport.

Eventually, Dumbledore came to the part about the dark wizard, naming him by his name (he received a shudder from Filch) and telling them not to do so in public. (Dumbledore didn't tell them about the Order, but he hadn't told any of the students except for Harry and co either.) He briefly mentioned Harry, and advanced to the part about the school. Jenna snorted when he told them about the system with the houses ('That's so...so dumb!') and was silenced by Picard, who for once didn't watch his language ('Shut up, I'm listening!'). However, the minor interruption was soon forgotten.

The rest of the conversation went smoothly and in total honesty, Sheba could tell by sensing Dumbledore's aura. Her last question was a bit personal, she took Dumbledore a bit further away. 'What...Why...' she blushed. This had never happened before, she could read Filch's mind, but not Dumbledore's. She almost felt as if he was reading her mind, and she couldn't do anything about it.

Dumbledore was immensely surprised when the frail princess of Lalivero (he remembered her story) asked him, stammering and confused, why she couldn't read his mind. So _that_ was that nagging feeling he had had. He smiled, still hardly believing that at her age she could already read minds. '_Occlumency._' he whispered. 'I can teach you if you want to...'

Sheba sighed relieved, all shyness gone in a wisp. 'That'd be nice. Gosh, I already tough I was losing my mind.' And off she went, her maraud eyes now shining with delight. Dumbledore wasn't sure what to make of her last comment.

Finally, the question arose. _What do we do now?_

They all realised that going to the non-wizard world was not an option yet. They knew too little, they'd stick out. And, since they were more or less wizards, they were responsible for keeping the magical world a secret, too. (you know, the statue of secrecy or what was it called...)

So the best choice, they all agreed, would be to stay and learn magic at Hogwarts. The adepts were all eager to learn the wizard's kind of non-energy-absorbing magic, even if they all thought that waving with a stick looked ridiculous and they heavily underestimated the difficulty of the spells.

Also, they'd volunteered to protect the castle from any possible attacks. That part was a bit like a mutual agreement that they were not to tell anyone about their role in the protection, or about their 'unusual' magic, and that Dumbledore 'd let them stay in the castle, join the lessons this late, and privately teach them more about the 'outside world'.

The practical bit followed soon after that. Felix and Picard would pretend to be about year younger (Picard sweatdropped again. 'I'll fit in.'), Sheba would be an exception and be 'a bit older' (like, two years -huge cheat!-). That way, they'd be able to join the lessons in the same year, the sixth.

By the time that was decided, night had already started to fall. Sheba dreamed away a bit at the sight of the wondrous ceiling and the moving paintings on the wall, now understanding that it was magic.

'I guess I'll take you to your dormitories now...can't let Peeves wait all night, can I?' Dumbledore said cheerfully as ever, before halting suddenly. 'Ah, I forgot something...Filch? Will you get the hat for me please?' Filch nodded a bit grumpily and dashed off at quite an amazing speed. Ten minutes later, he was back, panting. 'Those damn stairs, I had to be quick. They were already shifting positions!' He earned four odd looks.

After that was cleared, Dumbledore placed the hat on Felix' long hair. When the hat slid down, he pushed on it a bit, making some brown bangs fall into Felix' already half-obscured face. 'Guess you'll need a haircut.' Dumbledore joked. Felix didn't think it was funny...

The hat laughed muffled and made its decision. '_Definitely GRYFFINDOR!' _it bellowed. 'Hey, there's no need for shouting, my friend.' Dumbledore said gently, waking the hat from its confusion. 'Yes, I woke you too early, _next_!'

Picard took the hat, first shoving his headdress out of the way, and placed it on his aqua bangs. Ten minutes later, Filch checked whether or not it had fallen asleep again. '_okay, okay, I'm having trouble with this one...he's just as much Slytherin as Ravenclaw as Gryffindor...'_

_/Slytherin sounds bad.../ _

_/not that crap again...lemme make my decision.../_ the hat grumbled to Picard.

'_I guess I'll make it RAVE- _(shhhh!) _nclaw...hey, sorry...but, I guess you let them stay together in one dorm, Dumbledore...'_ the hat added, much to the adepts relief and to the wizard's surprise. '_You see, they're really close...'_

'I'll think about it, but I guess I can only manage if they're separated into two houses, not more. Go on.' the headmaster concluded the dilemma.

When the hat was placed on top of Jenna's head, he was drowned in furious thoughts of 'Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor...'

_/Easy easy, miss Jenna...now give me some room here/_

_/oh...sorry, go ahead/_

'_Well...this one's GRY- sorry... Gryffindor.'_ Jenna leapt up in joy, almost dropping the hat.

Sheba was last. And nervous. When the hat touched her fine blond hair, it sizzled and crackled with static, but she didn't notice.

One thought filled her mind. '_Don't let us be apart. Don't let Picard be alone. Don't put me apart from them...please...'_

'_And Ravenclaw! It is.' _the hat concluded the sorting. They all laughed, relieved and joyous.

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That night, when they had eaten their first meal in Filch's office, Dumbledore escorted the four new students to their dormitory.

Having listened to the old Sorting hat, and lucky that they weren't separated in three or four houses, Dumbledore decided that it'd be best to use one of the more-or-less secret rooms the Hogwarts castle had to offer. But there was a little problem...

'Where's the door?' Jenna inquired, standing in the Gryffindor common room and facing the wall Dumbledore had shown.

'That'll be the first thing I'll have to teach you. There's a spell that shows hidden things, and it's a quite complicated one, too. Today, I'll open the door, and tomorrow I'll have Hagrid, one of my teachers, accompany you to buy wands and the things you'll need at the start of the term, for example..' he eyed the Adept's garments '... some suitable clothes. I also expect you to leave your weapons in your room and to only use your psy..psyenergy in an emergency.' The loudest moaning came from Jenna and Sheba, Felix snorted. But they agreed none the less. 'Even if there's a dark wizard on the loose, I can tell you that there won't be any emergencies.' Dumbledore added, serious but still smiling.

Sheba took the word now. 'You said that the spell to show the door's complicated, no?' The headmaster nodded, looking at her expectantly.' So I guess you've got another way?'

'Yes.' Sheba answered, and cast, like she had done so many times since Air's rock, the wind-based Reveal spell.

Dumbledore could faintly see the blue glowing rings flashing around her, and he felt the atmosphere change slightly. Also, he had the impression that the light had gotten a bit purplish.

'Good, very good! That's one problem solved! But I'll have to teach you my spell anyway, I can't have you doing that with other students around, and I don't think it'd be practical when all of you had to wait for Sheba every time you need to get into your room...' Jenna sighed at Dumbledore's words, but they all saw the need of it.

'So, in short, we won't be allowed to wield our weapons, and we won't be allowed to use our powers, because apparently wizards can see it?' Picard got to the point of the case.

'Yes, that's what I mean.'

'And we'll have to learn five years worth of magic in order not to stick out in class and to avoid any trouble?'

'Indeed. But don't worry...' Dumbledore looked at Sheba again '...I guess I can allow you to cheat once. But just once!'

They all looked up surprised. 'What do you mean?' Jenna asked.

'You'll find out when you're ready. She knows what to do.' Dumbledore said mysteriously, glancing at Sheba, who was lost in though for a moment. Moments later, she looked back up, a questioning look in her eyes, not quite sure of herself. The headmaster nodded, and the little Seer grinned maliciously, mischief glowing in her green, shining eyes. 'Deal.' she said, sounding like a cat, satisfied with the way things were going.

The rest could only wonder what the 'deal' was, and cast their magician odd looks. She turned to face them and smiled. 'Don't worry. I'll tell you later.'

Opening up the entrance once more (reveal doesn't last ages, Dumbledore learned), the four quite tired adepts entered their new 'home', once again stunned by the luxury. Only Sheba stayed a bit longer, held back by a look from Dumbledore.

'You know that I trust you only to gain as much information as you need?' he asked her, eyeing her through his worn-out spectacles like an old grandfather eyed a child that had just received a treat, but not without a restriction. 'I know. Only a former fifth year, I take?'

'Exactly. Good girl. You're very perceptive, you know.' Sheba blushed at the comment. Then, Hogwarts' headmaster made his way to the portrait, still having to deal with a certain mischief-making poltergeist.

'No peeking during the schoolyear, I trust you.' Dumbledore said already half through the door, looking at his new student fondly. Sheba nodded, her heart warming up to this old man and smiling to express it.

'Good night.'

_Next chapter: Hagrid and Diagon Alley!_

_R & R please. Me likes : )_


	6. Of garments, staves and chaos part1

dislaimer: Golden Sun or Harry Potter: not mine.

Neko-chan n Inu-sama, savinglifelessness, Steeple333, Malteser 99: Thanks for reviewing, guys! Make me jump with glee, you do! Steeple333, I know, I'll try to get out the mistakes, but redoing the chapter won't happen anytime soon, I think.

kd7sov: Wow! Well to answer your questions: First: I think hover requires ground to be under your feet, or at least water, to push yourself up from. When they'd fall down, they couldn't use hover until they were almost down, and that'd require a LOT of energy. Also, they don't know where they'd end up. Second: I've been struggling with that one, too, and I decided that 'Spells' just might be okay. But for you, I'll try to avoid that from now on. Third: I know...I was feeling mushy, and I thougt it fitted... Fourth: O.O' Me hadn't noticed that before... Thanks for pointing that out, I'll correct it a soon as possible. I think I'll use Picard, then. Oh God, I'm so stupid...-sweatdrops-

I hope that covers it... Anyway, I haven't managed to get to the point again in this chapter. I split it again, but youcan expect an update soon!

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**chapter 3: of garments, staves and chaos**

part 1:

The next morning, Felix was awakened by the sunlight shining in his eyes. Blinking in the sun's rays, he pushed the red covers away and rose slowly from the soft bed.

They had slept in the same room, four beds, two on top of each other on each side of the rectangular room. Felix slept under his sister, and Picard on top of Sheba in the other beds.

He smiled when he saw Jenna already up, arranging her tunic and rummaging quietly through her stuff she had put on a chair the evening before.

'Your bracelet is over there, sis.' Felix said, whispering to avoid waking up Picard and Sheba, who were still slumbering, and pointing at another chair where the missing bracelets was. Jenna jumped up, startled at the sudden noise. When she had finally located the source of it, she grinned. 'I thought you were never going to wake up.' She said quietly while taking her armoury and shoving it over her hand. Felix left it at that and started to get dressed.

Usually, that didn't take too long, considering that the adepts didn't have any pyjamas or other night garments. Felix only took off his heaviest armour, belts, boots and weapons, and when he didn't have to sleep on the ground, Felix would also remove his cape and green overshirt. _(dunno what it's called, but he wears something over his tunic.)_ He had hung it all over a chair and had placed the Sol blade in a corner.

Jenna had only removed the heavy metal breastplate and other armour and, since it was warm enough, her woollen pullover she always wore over her brown tunic. Somehow, she had managed to scatter everything all over the place.

Sheba usually slept fully clothed, as her silky tunic didn't offer much protection against the cold and it was so smooth that it wasn't in the way when sleeping. Only her flexible leather boots, which enabled her to take full advantage of her speed, stood next to her bed.

Picard had loosened all his leather belts and taken off his navy-blue, sleeveless overcoat and the leather armour he wore over his silk tunic. Being the neat Lemurian he was, he had carefully rolled up the belts, folded the coat and placed everything on one of the shelves available. Still determined not to break his (probably ancient) habit, he was still wearing his silky headdress. That was something his allies had learned soon after he had joined them: there's no Picard without his beloved garment.

Jenna was starting to believe he didn't even take it off while taking a bath, since he somehow managed to keep it clean at all times, not at all like her brother, whose cape was totally ragged and torn at the edges by now. Luckily, Isaac's mother Dora had offered him to repair most of the damage after their quest for the lighthouses.

Since then, Felix had started to take more care of it, reluctant to get himself another one. Well, Jenna had to admit her brother wouldn't be the same without it. When she was near him, she could smell the adventures, see where the cloak had been torn in their battles, feel its worn out tissue and relive the past. She knew why he didn't want to part with it.

Anyway, Felix got dressed and when he was done, he reached for his sword. Just in time, he reminded himself that Dumbledore had told them not to bring their weapons. He withdrew his hand from the hilt, slowly beginning to realise that their lives would have to change drastically if they wanted to stay in the castle. With a sigh, he sat down on his chair and watched his allies.

Jenna, who had been eager to start her day, was now sitting on Felix' bed, her mace in her hands, and a sad look in her eyes. Apparently, she had had the same realisation as her brother. She stood up and twirled the weapon around, making a circle in the air. The tip of the weapon glowed softly, sensing the movement and expecting an attack. But none came. The brown-haired fire-adept gently shoved her mace under her and her brother's bed and then sat down on the bed again, her head and back resting against the wall, contemplating.

Now, Picard was waking up, too. The mariner had been sleeping on his back, one arm dangling loosely off the bed, the other resting on his chest. Now, he was moving and rolling over, moaning a little.

Before Felix or Jenna could stop him, he had rolled completely over, and out of his bed. With a crash, he came down hard on his side, eyes springing open in surprise to find himself on the floor and his side feeling numb.

That also woke Sheba up, who had rolled herself up in her blanked like a cat and had managed to edge her way into the corner of the bed, so that it was almost empty. The first thing she heard was Jenna, asking Picard if he was okay while trying to suppress a giggle.

'I'm okay. Damn, I'll never sleep this high anymore when I'm not on a ship...' the Lemurian answered, rubbing his arm and trying to get the sleep out of his eyes by blinking and shaking his head. 'The movement at least warns me that I'm sleeping high above the floor...'

Jenna nodded. How often hadn't she fallen out of the high beds in the drakar, or heard the others cursing (usually Saturos, Alex, Garet or Mia) when they fell out of their bed. Felix never cursed. He somehow seemed to be immune against the dropping-out-of-your-bed virus, just like Picard.

The latter didn't look too well this morning. His aqua hair was a mess, his golden eyes were hazy and his blanket was still twisted around his legs. When he had freed himself of it, he slowly made his way to the bathroom to refresh himself. Sheba and Jenna couldn't help looking at his muscular legs and arms and giggling at how cute he looked only dressed in his blue silk tunic, his headdress and his dark-blue shorts. Oblivious to the admiring looks of Sheba, he slammed the door a little harder than intended and sighed.

When he came out again, his friends were all ready to go downstairs and have breakfast. None of them wore any armour, not even Jenna. (She had realised the lack of danger on Earth and removed her armour, even her breastplate. She was blushing awkwardly at the lack of protection.) Hastily, he put on his coat, not bothering to put on his armour, too, and fastened all his belts. When he had put on his boots, he looked at them and nodded. 'Let's go.'

----------------------------------------------------

After the first real problem of the day (Sheba had to teleport them down, neglecting the rule of not using her Psynergy, because neither of them remembered the way), the four arrived in the Great Hall. There, on the Gryffindor table, breakfast was served. They were only mildly surprised when the plates refilled themselves with sandwiches when thy were empty, but they were more astonished when they first ate cereals. After all, none of them had ever seen such food. Especially not in such colourful packages. Beside that, breakfast was quite uneventful.

Except of course when a certain half-giant came into the Hall.

'Ah, there you guys are. Already wondered where you were.' Hagrid said in a good mood, sitting down next to Jenna, who nearly choked on her sandwich from surprise, and startling the wits out of the rest. When Jenna could breathe again, she looked at the big man next to her and shoved a bit away from him. 'Who are you?' she asked anxiously, suppressing the need to draw a weapon and attack. 'Are you that Hagrid-guy?'

When Hagrid saw the adepts' surprised and shocked looks, he laughed. 'Yes, I am! Bet ye olde Dumbledore forgot to mention me size, no?' He chuckled. Unfazed by the lack of response from the frozen adepts, he continued. 'So, I hope he _did_ tell ye that were going to Diagon alley today, to buy wands 'n stuff?' The four adepts nodded, still not sure whether this was a joke or not. If it was, it wasn't a very good one.

'Well, then, if you're ready, let's get going!' Not waiting for a reply, he stood up and made his way to the doors. When he noticed that no one followed, he stopped and turned to them. 'Now come on, I won't bite. Ye're not afraid of me, are ye? Dumbledore told me 'bout ye, so I know ye're not wussies!'

At that hint of an insult, Felix rose from the table. He had really been scared for a moment, since he was practically defenceless without his weapon, armour and now prohibited Psynergy. Now, he was calm again, but still angry with himself. It was about time he got used to walking around without the weight of his equipment, and in the name of Sol, he wouldn't let his party be insulted, dammit!

Banishing the quickly fading anger out of his voice, he called his friends. 'He's right. It's time to go.' Regaining their composure, helped by their leader's calm tone, they sat up, too, and together, they approached Hagrid. When he didn't attack but only smiled at the new students, they relaxed. But he'd have to tell them why he was so huge, one way or another. But they had time now to, if necessary, squeeze the answer out of him.

R& R please...make me update faster...


	7. Of g, s, & chaos part 2

disclaimer: I own none of the following series; GS and HP. The teacher'll be mine though...

DragonraiderX9, epobbp, savinglifelessness, Malteser99, Kd7sov: much thankies! Now I got my first twenty reviews+does the happy dance+

Oy, seven, I guess you're right, I can't seem to get Hagrid right. When I read the books, I never spend much attention to him, and I've only read the German and Dutch books, so I kinda _did_ invent his speech. I'm lucky I know most of the names in English, though. The Germans at least keep the English names...the Belgians managed to turn 'Dumbledore' into 'Perkamentus'...I haven't got a clue why.

part 2:

Felix and his party gasped. What a crowd! And the houses, and that huge building at the end of the street! Picard read the signs above the shops (the letters were almost the same as the Weyardian ones), and was stunned by the amount of shops and by what they seemed to sell. Jenna looked around until her head spun, while Sheba was watching the people. Felix was sure she was reading their minds, to catch up to what was happening around here as quickly as possible.

The four had gotten there by Portkey, Dumbledore had set up one for them. On the way to the headmaster's office, Hagrid had told them about his origin and about the giants, and had started babbling about his favourite subject: magical creatures. He was eager to hear more about the monsters of Weyard, and surprised the Energists once more by coming to the conclusion that he'd love to try to breed a Sea Dragon by crossing a turtle and a thing called 'the monster of Loch Ness'. Their conversation came to an end when they were greeted by Filch along the way.

When they arrived at the headmaster's office, Dumbledore was standing in front of the stone gargoyle with a broken ruler in his hands. He gave it to Hagrid and instructed the adepts to hold onto it. A bit confused by the strange order, they touched it. Mere seconds later, the Portkey activated and wept them away. It felt a bit like teleporting to them.

Now they were standing in the middle of Diagon alley, stunned and awestruck. They almost didn't notice Hagrid leaving them and advancing through the crowd to one of the shops. Felix and co. had to hurry to catch up to him, but luckily, the half-giant stuck out in the crowd.

Ducking to get under the door, Hagrid entered the shop and held the door open for Felix, Jenna and the rest as they entered Alivan's. An old bespectacled man came from behind his dusty desk to greet Hagrid. 'Ha, my old friend! Long time, no see! Who is it you've brought along this time?' Hagrid embraced the frail man and patted him (very carefully) on the back. 'Albus sent me to help some new students get their stuff, you know, wands and clothes and books and all.'

Alivan nodded, but cast Hagrid a questioning look when he saw that the 'new students' seemed to be a bit too old to start at Hogwarts. Hagrid caught the hint. 'Oh, it's nuthin'. They're not from around here, and apparently none of the schools has ever 'discovered them'. They'll get private lessons, and we'll tell the others that they're from another wizard school. It's okay.'

'Well, then let's get started. Miss...' he gestured to Jenna. 'Jenna.' 'Miss Jenna, you'll go first. Come over here...no, don't be shy...' He brought Jenna to his desk and started measuring her hand, her length, her taille and so on with his magical instrument that moved on its own, while rummaging through piles of boxes and notes, muttering incomprehensive things under his breath.

Eventually, he emerged from the mess, dusty and sweaty but content. He handed Jenna one of the many boxes he carried an put the rest own on his table. Jenna opened the box and took the wand it contained in her hand...the wrong way around.

Alivan sighed and placed the wand in her hand correctly. 'Oh!...eheh...' Jenna blushed. 'Now what do I do?' she asked, trying to forget her little mistake. 'Wave it around a bit, and see what happens...' Alivan prodded her. So she waved around a bit. It only resulted in the tip sparkling a little bit, and that wasn't enough for the wand-craftsman. So he made her try the next one. And the next. And he one after that...

By the time Jenna finally found her wand, her arm had gone numb, she was annoyed and Felix and Picard had fallen asleep on a chair, snoring loudly. Sheba was looking around the shop, while Hagrid was still watching Jenna an smiling, certain that she'd find the right wand sometime…more like some_day_.

When the wand touched her skin, it flared in recognition, as if it had been waiting all this time for Jenna to come and fetch it. Jenna could hardly contain her excitement at the fiery reaction, making the wand burst into searing flames. Psynergetic flames, that didn't hurt her at all.

But they _did_ hurt Alivan's desk. In moments, the desk had caught fire and sizzled. Alivan, who had dealt with this kind of reaction before, hurriedly swept everything from the table and waved his own wand. '_Pluvio!_' he yelled. Water appeared out of nowhere and drenched the table, trying to douse the flames, but to no avail. Regular magic just wasn't strong enough to handle Psynergy. Picard and Felix immediately came into action. They jumped up from their slumber and...didn't quite now what to do.

After some contemplations, Felix jerked his sister away from the fire. He wasn't afraid that she could get hurt, no, but in the state she was in, she could've just a well blown up the whole shop. Picard, remembering that he wasn't supposed to show his Psynergy and therefore unable to cast Deluge, grabbed some of the wands lying on the ground that had fallen out of the fallen waste bin.

'_Pluvio!_' he shouted, like he had heard the shopkeeper doing, and cast his Psynergy now that it looked like he was casting the wizard's version of it. His water immediately doused the fire, but the broken wands reacted on the magical word. Unfortunately, he had made the wrong movements, and his slight Lemurian accent had made the word sound a bit like 'plvio', so the wands went berserk. They sizzled, sparked, exploded and stunned, sending jets of light in all directions. Only one of them responded to the Lemurian's call correctly and cast the pluvio-spell.

When Picard had dropped them all to stop them from destroying more, he eyed them closely. At least, one in particular: one of the broken wands had a broken tip. It had split in three sharp splinters, and the tips of those were glowing bluish. Picard recognised the wand's form from somewhere...

_By the gods...that looks like a miniature version of the trident!_

Indeed, the wand looked a bit like a deformed trident. The spikes were, compared to the whole thing, too small, but they had all the same length, and, if one looked closely, one could see that the tips looked like little arrows. Picard picked up the wand before Alivan could put it in the trash bin again, and examined it. The tip felt like steel, and it had a comforting, cooling feeling to it.

'Ah...it responds to you...' Alivan said, noticing the bluish tips. 'Wave it around a bit, please.'

The wand sprayed a soft rain-shower, with droplets so small it looked like mist or steam, that froze everything it touched, Sheer cold. 'Good, very good!' Alivan said. I think you found your wand, mister...' 'Picard.' 'Fourteen inches, Katsurawood, the most exotic one I ever made, quite flexible with a core of the scale of a kappa drenched in holy water...Light brown, suited best for fluid motion and silently spoken magic. Also has an affinity for healing magic. I wonder why I thought it was broken, apart from the weird shape of the tip...'

'Ahem...' Alivan's attention was taken somewhere else, to Jenna. She stood there, looking at her scorched wand. Its tip seemed to have gotten a bit damaged, it had sweltered in the heat and now had a black lump right under its tip, that still had a red tint as if it had a light inside it. It almost looked like a little mace like that.

Alivan took the wand and investigated it. '...hmm...Ashwood, thirteen inches, a little above normal hardness, core...what was it again...oh yes, magma burned by a Balrog...Especially good in complex but strong spells, channels energy very well. It used to be white, but now it's all black.' He returned the wand to Jenna. 'There should be no problem, though. The core's still intact, so it should function properly.' The old shopkeeper seemed to think he had said enough, and now turned to Felix.

Much to his surprise, they young man was already holding a wand, a long one with a sharp tip, and waving it around as slowly as he could. As a result, a small tremor shook the building and a thorny flower shot up from the ground, enveloped in bright green sparkles. Felix noticed Alivan looking at him and nodded. 'That's the one.' He handed the speechless shopkeeper his wand.

'Ah, yes...White Oak, fifteen inches, very hard and sturdy, but it's got this 'swing', very good for very powerful spellwork, mythril core plus something I don't quite remember, I think it was a Golem essence...Nice brown colour, by the way.' Alivan explained, still a bit confused by the fact that two people in a row hadn't needed his advice to pick their wand. He hadn't noticed, however, the blue circles that had enveloped Felix a while before and his whispered call of 'Catch'. The Psynergy automatically brought the wand that responded to Psynergy the most.

Poor Alivan was even more surprised when Sheba handed him a short, beige wand that seemed to glow a bit purplish-silvery. 'What is this one?' she asked. The seer had let her Psynergy guide her, too, and was sure that this wand was the one for her. She didn't feel the need to call up a storm, but when she was asked to wave the stick around, she did and conjured a small typhoon, complete with bolts and Plasma. When it had died down, her friends could come from under the desk where they had hidden, and Alivan could begin his description of her wand.

'I see,... paper birch, very pale tinted for its kind, nine-and-a-half inches, quite short, but very flexible. Harpy feather core with Zephyrus essence, a natural in handling tactical spells and has the potential of doing incredible magic when motivated...' he concluded.

After giving the new wand-wielders a lecture about proper wand-handling, old Alivan gladly showed them the door. When Hagrid had said goodbye and had closed the door behind him, hushing the adepts forward into the crowd, Alivan turned to his desk and sighed.

It'd be a lot of work to get his shop cleaned up again, after it had been burned, frozen, quaked and electrocuted. But he kept the flower Felix had grown anyway. Much to his joy, it would bloom for another three months before it dissolved into nothing again...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

...that was not a sign of impending Doom, just the time the psynergy-magic needs to wear off.

R&R is much appreciated! Thanks again to all my reviewers up till now!


	8. Of g, s & chaos part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or GS. full stop.

**tamarind djinn, epobbp, Neko-chan 'n Inu-sama: **One update, after I know-its-been-a-long-time- -grins nervously-

**Steeple333, dragonraiderX9: **from now on, I'll call him Ollivander, ya? I'll change the previous chapter some other time...

**Trixie's girl:** I guess Jenna.

**savinglifelessness:** It's mine, but I was inspired by some psynergy-name called 'Sheer cold'

**kd7sov:** same for the second answer, and about the magma, it's actually lava-stone, you know...The Balrog, I believe is a normal mythical creature and belongs to no one, but if I'm mistaken, I'll add that dislaimer when I change the wand maker's name, k?

_Well, let's get started_

_Part 3:_

Two in the morning, the adept's room…

Felix lay on his back on his bed, his hands folded behind his head, and sighed wearily. He could hear his allies breathing slowly in the silence of the night. The room was too high to her anything but the distant sound of the wind blowing over the lake and through the mountains, and a pale moon stood in the black-blue sky wondering where four adepts had disappeared to.

Through the heavy red curtains, a glimmering streak of moonlight shone into the middle of the room, and its crystal cold light kept the earth-adept awake. Felix' thoughts wouldn't stop rumbling through his mind, making him wonder how Isaac and the rest were doing, if his parents were ok, and musing about today's events.

…..

After their little adventure in Ollivander's shop, they had gone to Madame Mallekins' shop, to buy school robes. Felix vividly recalled his feelings of distaste at the sight of the shop. It was too luxurious, too colourful, and the shop's owner was waaay too amical for her own good.

They had barely entered, when the lady had jumped onto their 'case', as she called it. She briefly outed her concern about Sheba's and Jenna's fashion sense, and then looked at Felix with a look as if he were a dead rat brought in by a cat.

The girls had from that moment on a strong dislike for the woman, whilst Felix couldn't help but look at his own outfit and allow himself to wonder in confusion what was so bad about his tunic and cloak…later, he had mentally smacked himself for letting the Madame make him feel uncomfortable. Usually, he could care less about what other people thought of him.

After all, he had lighted the lighthouses while knowing too well that his childhood friends had despised him for attempting to do so.

But anyway, they all swallowed their pride and let Madame Mallekins take measurements and dress them up in the 'normal' fashion. They were all glad that they had left their armour behind in the morning, or else they'd had to carry it around for the whole remaining day.

The adepts hadn't said a word during the whole ordeal at Mallekins', except for one of them, and it hadn't been Jenna, much to even Hagrid's surprise, who was by now quite familiar with the basic personality of each of the four 'new ones'.

The one who had complained about the robes had been Picard no less… When Madame had dressed him, she had first eyed his headdress curiously, and then ordered him to take it off.

Jenna and Sheba gasped, and looked at Mallekins shocked. Picard knitted his brows together and thought. After a few long moments of contemplation, he simply stated 'No.' And for some odd reason, he added that he didn't want to, and would not wear robes with long sleeves like that.

His rather blunt way of putting it had shocked the tailoress and the half-giant quite a bit, and even Sheba and Jenna looked strangely at him. The other adepts could understand that he wouldn't part with his peculiar piece of cloth, but why he didn't want to wear a robe with long sleeves was beyond them.

Without saying a word, Madame had taken Picard's wrist and took him away. In the meantime while the two were having a long discussion, Sheba suddenly remembered that she hadn't ever seen a Lemurian wear sleeves, only the highest magistrates and the king (Lunpa didn't count) covered their arms.

She told Jenna and Felix about her suspicion, and Felix nodded in agreement. It might be some kind of a dress code, and well… in Lemuria it's much warmer than here, so they don't need long sleeves…

After about a quarter of an hour, Hagrid and the three could hear the tailoress coming back, having a polite and friendly conversation with the Lemurian.

"…and you know, when you need another colour-scheme, you can always come back. And if you know more about this kind of cross-stitches, please, DO tell me. A very ingenious way of sewing you have, too…"

When they rounded the corner and came in sight, Jenna gasped, and Sheba's eyes went wide.

Picard was wearing his new robe over his normal clothes, just like the rest, but his sleeves only came halfway his upper arms now. Slung over his lower arm was his brightly-coloured headdress, very recognisable by the silky texture and its light-blue and sandy colours.

However, he _was_ wearing another headdress, identical to his usual one, only with colours that were a bit darker and that matched with the blue of the ravenclaw: a muck darker royal blue with silver patterns. His silk tunic, that often hung around his hips like a skirt, had undergone the same change.

When he noticed his friends looking at him, he turned to them with the usual gentle smile in his golden eyes.

"Well, what do you think..?" he asked.

"B-…but why, what, you…you took it off.. and your sleeves are short…" Jenna stammered like she usually did when she was genuinely confused.

"Yes, my sleeves are short. Me and Miss Mallekins had a little chat, and she understands why it is necessary for my personal wellbeing that they are short. She was so nice to shorten them for me. And as for 'you took it off'….What _are_ you talking about?"

Jenna stared. "Well, that…stuff that's like always on your head….you took it off!"

"Yes I did, because Miss Mallekins thought it was an interesting piece of work and she wanted to study the tissue and the way it was made. I gladly provided her with that information, and she offered to duplicate it in colours that match the robe, you see. Did you maybe think it's permanently stuck to my head or something?"

That was indeed what Jenna and Sheba thought. Heck, even Felix' cloak sometimes seemed like a mystery to them..

"Well, Picard, you've got to admit that you never take it off…" Jenna began, embarrassed at her naivety and trying to make herself seem less stupid. Picard cast her and Sheba an incredulous look. Jenna looked back at him sheepishly, and then the Lemurian laughed.

"So you really _did_ think…"

"Kinda…I know it's dumb." Jenna said. Now Sheba too spoke up " But now that we're discussing it, _why_ do you wear it all the time?"

Picard looked puzzled for a while "Now that I've come to think of it… all Lemurian sailors own a headdress like this. We use it to avoid getting a sunburn and to keep our hair and the wind out of our eyes. " he answered.

After making sure Mallekins was busy with Hagrid, who was doing the payment with their gold coins (they didn't know how much they were worth, but they had a lot of them and they were almost 100 gold) he continued. "I guess I just got too used to wearing it after the crash. On the continent the sun's rays are strong, too, and it kept me warm in that cell."

Jenna and Sheba nodded, looking at the ground at the memory of Picard in the Madrans' prison. Only then Picard noticed that Felix had his arms crossed and was exceptionally silent. Felix was looking sternly at the Lemurian, like ha usually did, but Picard though he was looking _just that little bit too serious…_

"Felix, you thought too…" Felix closed his eyes and turned his head abruptly with a snort, but he soon began to smirk. He looked at his friend and smiled. "Yeah…I'm sorry."

Picard want to the Earth adept patted his shoulder in his rough, friendly sailor-manner and smiled back "It's ok…really, I had no idea this thing -he pointed at his new headdress- was unknown to you. But hey, you could've just asked me…"

All four of them laughed light-heartedly, the four voices making the two adults look at them in wonder. A thought crossed their minds. _They act so natural together…I don't think I've ever seen such a peculiar, but close group in my whole life…good to know that there are still people without worries.._

They could only try to imagine what adventure could bring people so different together, but at least Mallekins would never know…

An hour later, dressed in their new robes and their wands stuffed in their pockets (Picard had put his behind his ear), the four adepts plus Hagrid were having ice-cream at the ice bar. Seated outside the cosy little bar, Jenna and Felix were examining the 'weird cold stuff'. Jenna openly didn't rust the stuff, Felix carefully tasted it and let his first spoonful melt on his tongue.

Sheba, as the princess of Lalivero, had a bit more dignity and started eating it with little bits, soon finding out that it was delicious and then having to hold herself back from eating too fast. Picard was delighted to discover the flavoured iced-milk, and had to stop himself from experimenting with it with his water-based Psynergy.

Felix, who was nibbling on his cold spoon did, have the fleeting impression that Picard's ice-cream had briefly taken the shape of a ship, complete with cannon and wings, but he didn't say anything about it. He knew the Lemurian would be careful enough not to let anyone find out about their 'powers'. Also, the image of their ship made him feel a wee bit homesick.

While they were sitting and enjoying the sunlight warming them, Hagrid offered to take go and get the books they needed himself, so that they could rest a bit and look around a bit. They all thanked him, and gave him some more gold coins ( they seemed to be quite valuable, one of them was worth what Hagrid called 'a gallion'). Then they paid for the ice-cream and went off to explore Diagon alley.

It was fate itself that brought them to the inn, where quite a crowd was gathered: a whole family of redheads, a girl with very bushy hair and a boy with messy black hair -a scar was hidden beneath it, Felix could see- had just come back from a shopping trip.

All the adolescents (two redheads, a girl and a boy) and the other two were wearing Hogwarts' robes, all of them with a red hem.. Felix was about to turn around –he didn't feel like meeting more wizards right now-, but Sheba held him back. "Three of them are sixth-years.." She said, her green eyes becoming cloudy, like every time when she was about to read someone's mind.

Felix and Jenna looked at her in wonder, but Picard seemed to know what was going on. "Go ahead, I think you should do it before they notice us.." he said to the blonde quietly. She nodded, and circled around the crowd to the black-haired boy.

"What's she going to do?" Jenna asked. Picard answered.

"You remember when Dumbledore told her to 'cheat, but only one time'? I believe he meant that she's allowed to read the mind of a former fifth-year to gather the knowledge we missed in the first five years, so she can pass in on to us. That way, we don't have to learn all the magic in two weeks."

Felix nodded. "Why haven't I thought about that earlier…you're right, it makes sense."

They watched as Sheba approached Harry from behind, and when she was close enough, she casually brushed past him and read his mind. She prepared herself for a flood of information, but what came she hadn't expected…

..It was as if that boy's mind had put open the floodgates of his memories. Sheba drowned in images she couldn't place yet, but it was horrifying_. 'Someone has already messed with his mind..!' _She thought '_It's not normal to get access this quickly! Unngh…'_

Barely suppressing a grunt, she broke contact, and ran away, dizzy and disoriented. She barely avoided hitting a wall, then bumped into Mrs' Weasley, and then ran to her allies. With a mighty headache, she stumbled into Picard's arms, who held her up straight and let her regain her senses.

"Come…" she said, willing her headache to abate. Felix, Jenna and Picard touched her and, she opened her mind to them. She made sure every bit of information (she hadn't even sorted through it first) came into her friends' minds, but she passed it on a lot slower than Harry had, aware of the fact that their minds weren't trained to receive input so quickly.

When she was done, Sheba broke the link and took some moments to 'remember' Harry's memories…

"Oh sweet Iris…" Jenna hissed. "What kind of a world IS this?"

The other adepts couldn't answer, as they barely grasped the story of Harry Potter an his enemy, Voldemort…

TBC

R'n R please, I like reviews, constructive ones very welcome!


	9. settled, or not?

Disclaimer: copy-paste yourself from the other chapters mate...

to teh reviewers: meepers, finally I update. This one's for you guys...I'm such a lazy ass...XD

Chapter 4:

Sheba had barely recovered a bit from sending Harry's memories to her friends when Hagrid had come stomping back to them to introduce them to the wizard and his friends.

The giant of course didn't quite know that they all had just had a very personal first introduction to Harry, Hermione, Ron and half of their private lives. Felix nearly tripped over from the dizziness that still deluded his senses, and Picard and Jenna had to lean against each other for support as the world spun into existence again.

Anyway, they had been introduced again to Harry's party, and not even Jenna fell out of the role they had to play. Although Felix did something Hagrid hadn't quite expected:

Instead of acting as if he had never ever seen Harry before, he did the same thing all wizards seemed to do in Harry's memories: he questioningly looked at Harry's forehead and asked him if he was the 'Boy Who Lived'. Harry seemed to react normal (a bit embarrassed that is), so Felix and his company were certain that they hadn't aroused any suspicion.

After all, the 'story' would be that they already knew about the wizard world, so immediately after being flooded with images and thoughts, they hadn't failed to recognize Harry's importance to this world.

Still, the four adepts had silently nudged Hagrid that it was getting time to go home. Luckily, it was indeed getting late, so the half-giant said goodbye to his little friends and their family and took the four back to Hogwarts.

The only thing Harry's party knew about them was their names and that they were going to be in his year. He hadn't even gotten the time to ask why he had never seen them before, and, if he'd have been so impolite, to ask what in the blazes Picard's headdress was supposed to be.

_prt2_

As soon as Jenna, Sheba, Picard and their leader had gotten back to the castle, they had rushed to their dormitory, where Sheba cast reveal on the secret door. The tired blonde really didn't feel like trying out the wizards' spell right now, and her friends could only catch her as she tripped over her own feet when she staggered inside the room.

Picard gently carried her to her bed when he saw that she had fallen asleep from the moment her body had let go all tension. The mariner hugged her closer to him when she shivered from the exhaustion. Behind him, Jenna yawned widely, stretching her arms all the way over her head and behind her back, a droplet forming at her eyes.

Felix slumped immediately took off his new black robes, threw them over his chair and slumped down at their little table, rubbing his temples. He was squeezing his eyes shut, as if he had a terrible headache. Noticing a dull throb in his own head, Picard concluded that that was probably the case.

He put Sheba down on her soft bed and pulled the blankets over her after he had removed her leather boots. The fact that she wasn't wearing any armour did make things less complicated, Picard noted with a soft smile.

Slowly, he began feeling that he himself wad in dire need of rest, too. He vaguely wondered why, they hadn't really done anything today…apart from getting to know a whole new world of course. It was a completely different strain.

Being pumped up on adrenaline for hours and fighting until your muscles gave in, trying to find a safe place while fending off monsters and pushing and pulling things around, with or without psynergy, they were all used to that.

But having to stay alert all the time not to blow your cover, watching every word you say, and listening intently to every new thing you heard…and them having your mind bombed by the memories of the most important person in the new world…that had gotten the four adepts to their knees.

Sheba, who had gone through the transfer two times, was off the worst, but Picard and Felix weren't concerned. Their magician was only tired, and she deserved some rest. By now, Jenna had started looking for food while trying not to fall asleep.

The sun was starting to set, and the gold and red coloured room was bathed in beautiful warm autumn evening light. The soothing glow made Jenna's eyes glint a bit, but in an elegant, mystical manner. Her auburn hair shone in the half-darkness.

Her brother watched her, resting his head on the table and smiling. He was completely at ease like this, and his brown eyes tiredly observed the token of his constant worry. He knew where the food was, but he didn't feel like opening his mouth to speak. So did Picard.

The mariner sat on Sheba's bed and listened to her steady breath. Again, he admired Felix for his strength…even if he was only a fragment of his age, the earth-adept showed al lot of wisdom, and he had proven it again by handling the might-have-turned-ugly-situation earlier. Picard's musings were interrupted when his lungs suddenly refreshed his air rather abruptly in one hell of a yawn.

…and by his stomach demanding nourishment. He sat up, careful not to wake the sleeping wind-adept, and opened the door to the common room. Jenna looked up from the closet she was searching, and followed the sailor out.

When she saw that on the table in the common room was a huge pile of sandwiches, she rushed past Picard and started munching happily. _She must've been _really_ hungry…_ Picard thought, his golden eyes twinkling with amusement when images of equally rushed dinners flashed past his inner eye.

He calmly sat down and took a sandwich himself. Leaning back in the big comfy chairs, he munched on it and noticed that the door was gone again. Slowly munching he soon felt that he had eaten enough, only two sandwiches, because the ingredients tasted a bit weird and he didn't want to upset his stomach.

Right now, he was caught in the middle of being sick of exhaustion and longing to wolf down his food like Jenna did, but right now, he opted for going to bed early and letting his body rest first. Maybe that 'ice-cream' had been a bit much...the admiral had eaten in the morning, and for lunch he had had six bowls of the delicious cream.

Picard allowed himself to sit in the chair for a bit longer, and then he stood up. Jenna looked at him, and through two bites of her ninth sandwich, she said "The door is gone, you know…"

Picard cast her a wary mischievous look, and then plucked his trident-wand from behind his ear, where it had been all the time. Ignoring Jenna's 'eeh?', he searched his 'new' memory. He tested the weight of his wand, circled his wrist a bit, and then in a two graceful arcs, like the waves themselves, and softly pronounced the words _'alohomoraque transversus'_.

The door appeared and clicked open.

Jenna dropped her sandwich.

'…o-kaay…How'd you do that?'

Picard turned to her and grinned. 'I used the memories we acquired earlier...everything that boy learned, read or heard, we know, too. He didn't seem to quite know how to _do_ the spell, but I figured it out. I believe that friend of his, Hermione tried to teach him once.'

Without adding anything else, he entered the room again, where he found Felix smiling warmly at him. He seemed to be getting ready for bed, because he had thrown off his boots and cloak.

'At least one of us is actually trying to get into this new kind of magic…' he sighed. 'Tomorrow, I'll have to get Jenna to do the same, and to be earnest I'm not looking forward to it myself either.'

The warrior straightened his back when he removed his overshirt and tunic. In front of his allies, he didn't feel ashamed at all to show his naked upper body. His rather pale skin was covered in a few scars and little scratches from wounds he still had from the battle with the three-headed dragon. It seemed so long ago…

'I'm gonna fresh up a bit okay? Could you watch Jenna a bit?' Felix asked his friend almost rhetorically. He didn't even have to see Picard nod to know that he could count on the mariner.

'Thanks.' He smiled, brushing the hair out of his eyes and in the same movement untying the leather band that kept his longer bangs in a ponytail. His longs deep-brown hair fluttered as he went to the bathroom, tickling against his bare shoulders.

Picard turned around to open the door for Jenna, who was lazily banging it, because she didn't want to use 'magic' to unseal it.

In fact, she _had_ tried, but the impatient, fiery-tempered mars-adept just couldn't keep her mind together long enough to figure out the intricacies of the spell like Picard had done. Peh, if they wanted her to do it, they could as well 'spell' it out for her.

Jenna grumpily pushed past Picard, kicked off her boots, threw her black robes in the general direction of her chair, and slumped down onto her bed. In a matter of moments, she was sleeping soundly.

In the beginning of their journey together, Picard used to get very annoyed at her behaviour, but after a while, he realised how useless it was to try to convince her that it wasn't polite to make a mess out of the cabins in his ship.

Now, he only picked up everything she dropped and placed it where it belonged. On a beautiful evening like this, the mariner couldn't be annoyed. Besides, it was below him to scold a tired young girl for wanting to sleep. Not that he'd scold Jenna for anything…she was, well…special. She was Jenna, and she'd always be his friend, whether she messed up or not.

It was what made their party so strong. They all had their quirks: Felix' silence, Picard's cryptical ways, Jenna's temper and her foot-in-mouth syndrome, and Sheba's arrogance…yes, Picard knew that their magician could be rather sarcastic instead of respecting other people. But they clung together, and they accepted each other, focusing on the strengths they had.

Felix returned from the bathroom, his now wet hair matted against his neck. He put on his spare silk tunic, and gazed at his sleeping sister with a warm look in his eyes.

Picard took off his boots, and then headed for the bathroom himself, where he refreshed himself with the water, which he secretly cooled down to a freezing four degrees. His whole body shivered at the sudden loss of warmth, and when he was done, the dieing sun's rays soothingly warmed his skin when he entered the room again.

He saw that Felix had gone to eat something himself, and he climbed in his bed, over Sheba's. He sighed contently when he settled in a comfortable position, and soon, he drifted off into a light mariner's slumber.

When Felix re-entered the room, using the same spell Picard had (he took his time figuring it out, unlike his sister), the sun had hidden behind the mountain hills that surrounded the castle. A mystical dark blue aura hung in the chamber.

It was a magical moment, the four adepts, safe and unharmed, totally at ease, together, at the dawn of a new quest. Felix enjoyed the feeling that he had not failed his party, and that he had gotten them all a good place to rest.

He felt responsible for them, still.

Silently, he climbed past Jenna into his bed, where he settled to recap the day. It made his head hurt.

_prt3_

Hours later, Felix lay on his bed and looked out the window. He sighed warily when he saw that the moon had already covered more than three fourths of its trajectory…it would be morning soon.

Sheba was sleeping curled up as always, squirming silently, sweating from the heat and from the dream she was having. Jenna moaned softly in her sleep. After yesterday, nothing would ever be the same for them.

That boy they met, his enemies…and something that bothered him even more: the stone of sages. Harry's memories told him that it had been destroyed…

He was drawn from his thoughts by a golden glint in the darkness. Picard had turned over to watch him with half-closed eyes. The moonlight reflected in the man's always radiant irises.

'You're worried…' his calm, soft voice stated.

Their eyes locked. 'Yeah…about that Flamel guy…'

Picard drew in the information. '…oh, yes. I remember…Do you really think it's the same stone?'

'What? What do you mean?'

'Well, Flamel 'made' his stone about a hundred and fifty years ago...it couldn't be the one we produced when we lit the lighthouses.'

A silence.

'…you've got a point…gah, I'll think it over again tomorrow.'

'You do that. You haven't slept.' Again, a statement, not a question. Picard's eyes gleamed worriedly.

'hmm…g'night then.'

Felix turned over to face the wall, forced his eyes shut and finally fell asleep. On the opposite bed, Picard put his wand away again. _I gotta remember that somnus one…_ he thought, before letting himself drift off again.

_Somewhere in the forbidden forest_

A crashing noise, iron cracking through wood and bone. A flame lashing out of the darkness, extinguished by a strong gust of icy torrential wind.

Shadows surrounded the pair, lunged at the weakest one of them.

A cry, a sob, then silence.

" MENARDI ! "

The world exploded.

TBC

ummm, feedback greatly appreciated, R'n R please

...btw, the 'exploded' is a metaphore, this isn't the end or anything. that's why it says 'TBC' y'know XD


	10. a new beginning

…oookaaay, that last one was metaphorical…the story's just beginning, and I feel so damn guilty for being such a lazy bum…but hey, in the meantime I discovered Bleach, and Chrono Crusade… now that the holidays are starting I hope I'll be allowed to spend enough time on the pc to push all my stories forward a bit. To all reviewers, thankies soo much, I really appreciate reviews...I'm so sorry for not doing this faster.

But there, I'm updating. Let's get this rollin' again.

Chapter 5: a new beginning

Early in the morning, Felix was woken up by a strange feeling…a presence, a familiar one, so strong and yet so far away…It was cold in the room. Felix guessed that Jenna had opened the window at night, after all she had fallen asleep with all her clothes on.

The warrior tried to get back to sleep again, but found himself unable to empty his mind. So, with a heavy sigh, he pushed away his blanket and swung himself out of his bed, landing on the floor silently. In the bathroom, he dressed himself, and then left his party to themselves. Felix decided to go for a stroll outside on the vast grounds of Hogwarts. The confusing maze of the castle wouldn't deter him from doing so. With Harry's memories, he'd find the way out. After quite some time, he finally found an exit (seeing memories isn't the same as interpreting them), and he gladly stepped out into the open.

Late August. It was still warm, but he could feel the earth losing heat slowly during the shortening days. Fall was coming. And so was the beginning of the wizards' education. If Felix remembered correctly, tomorrow was the day when the students arrived. _So soon…_

As he walked on the grass, he observed his surroundings. Felix was shocked to find the previously alien environment feeling so familiar. Everywhere he looked, a wave of memories flooded his mind. To Felix, Hogwarts now seemed both like a home, and a place of terrible dangers.

He skipped over huge amounts of irrelevant information, still feeling a bit uncomfortable at their rather direct intrusion on Harry's private life, and dug deeper until he found what he had remembered yesterday.

The Stone of Sages. Felix sat down on a rock next to the lake. When exactly had he arrived there? He didn't know...his mind had taken him there, and somehow the spot was quite fitting for a brooding session. Mist was still evaporating from the lake's surface, and the depths of the vast amount of water with its mysterious inhabitants were an appropriate metaphor for the secrets this world contained. The fog reminded Felix of something…a Pensieve. Or something like that. If he only had one of those things now.

Meanwhile, back in Gryffindor's common room, Picard and Sheba had awoken as well. Sheba still had a lingering feeling of dread from a strange dream, but the seer had decided not to bother her friends with it. Even if she was a magician, she wasn't as superstitious. Not every nightmare meant trouble…or so she hoped. Picard had effectively distracted her from her numb, half-asleep state by offering her to practice magic with him.

The mariner's enthusiasm had dragged her in immediately. Somehow, she was curious about the wands as well. She was surprised to notice how well her old friend managed to sift out the relevant information out of the mess Harry's memories were, especially when it came to studying spells. When Picard saw her confused glance (she didn't understand how he could do it better than her), he laughed softly and explained.

"It's not that hard when you've had the lessons I got as a child…In Lemuria, we're taught a certain way of reasoning, and how to focus on important things. The Lemurian sages have been perfecting the art of problem-solving for ages." He grinned, a bit ashamed of the rather unfair head start he had.

"It's only a matter of practice. And when you've had as much time as me to learn this way of thinking, it becomes a second nature. You only need to figure out what the essence of a spell is, what the key points in pronunciation and movement are. The hard part is doing it the right way. And I think you're better at that, Sheba." He said, trying to sound encouraging.

The girl cast him a smug look, showing him that she's not to be mothered over, and proceeded waving her wispy little stick around, now successfully executing the wingardium leviosa spell on Picard. When the latter felt himself grow weightless under the seer's magic, he kept his calm and waited patiently for her to put him down again. The impasse lasted for five minutes, in which Faran's daughter played around with Picard's body, turning him upside down and making him look ridiculous with his headdress hanging down like a curtain..

"You're no fun…" Sheba pouted and dropped her friend again. She was irritated a bit, but she made sure Picard landed safely on his feet again. Even is she didn't like the idea of being beaten, she didn't want to hurt him either. Sheba turned around to face the invisible door, but before she could enter and finally wake Jenna up, she suddenly found herself hanging a few inches above the ground.

"Picard!" she articulated icily and spun herself around clumsily. "Put me down!" The Lemurian looked at her confusedly. "…I didn't do that…" Sheba was now evenly confused. She quickly cast another spell, and the leviosa was cancelled.

"Who did it, then?" she asked, her senses on alert and expecting danger. Her question was soon answered by a certain fuzzy-looking Fire adept barging through the secret door in her search for food. When she spied the tray of sandwiches, she sat down and started eating. Picard and Sheba were still scanning the room for an intruder, when Jenna, with her mouth half-full of sandwich, suddenly asked a question.

"Say…" gulp "You guys didn't happen to see any weird things in here?"

Sheba looked at her. "Yes, why?"

"Y'know, my stick went a bit ballistic when I waved it around…" Jenna sulkily admitted.

Picard thought about this for a moment, then asked back. "So you just happened to perfectly cast a hover charm?"

Jenna glared at him. "So it was a flying spell, eh? Well…I remembered it, from that kid you " she addressed Sheba " took the memories from. It's not my fault."

"But that's great! You've been practising, then?" Sheba asked. Jenna looked angry again. "Couldn't resist…" she muttered "those damn things are poison for my curiosity…"

Picard laughed when he heard this. He could imagine the turmoil the girl was in.. only yesterday she had declared openly that she'd never ever use that 'stick', and this morning she had to admit that she wasn't as reluctant as she has sworn before.

"Hey, it's nothing. You can always take revenge on it by burning it to ashes when we leave again… if you hate it so much." The mariner aid light-heartedly. His words seemed to hit the target when Jenna smiled warily. "Yeah…I think I'll do that…" With those words, she stalked off to fix her hair and freshen up. Only then Picard noticed.

"Hey, where did Felix go?" Sheba answered before he could even look through the room. "He's outside…I think he's suffering from some side-effects of my little mistake yesterday…" the little blonde sighed. "Something like that has never happened before. I could read his mind so easily as if someone's forced his it open…it's not normal. All those memories rushed into me, and I couldn't make a selection fast enough before I relayed them onto Felix. You and Jenna got the censored version." She cast the floor a dark look.

Picard sensed her uneasiness and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself…you did an amazing job. You just gave us all years of knowledge, in a mere snippet of time." He soothed her with his relaxing, honest voice. "I'm sure Felix will sort things out for himself…and besides, you happened to pick a person with valuable information regarding our quest, too." Sheba looked at him with her deep lavender eyes, remembering Flamel, too. "You're still our lucky girl." Picard added, grinning at the memories of the gambling in Contigo. The girl blushed. "Thanks."

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Felix returned inside sometime after lunchtime when it started raining, and when dinner arrived, he wolfed his food down in silence. His friends were too tired to comment on it, as they had spent all day rehearsing five years worth of magic education. Only late in the evening, Filch came up to their room to inform them of what would happen the next day, when the students would arrive in the evening.

Sometime during the night, Jenna was awoken by strange sounds coming from the common room, and when she came roaring through the secret door, her wand ablaze, she was surprised to see several house-elves cowering under her fury, shaking like Picard had cast tundra in the room. Her outburst to frighten away intruders had also woken up Felix and the rest, and thus, they all had the honour of witnessing the elves' absolute loyalty. In only a few minutes time, they had all had dinner a second time, gotten a complete dustoff and new blankets on their beds.

When the chattering busy creatures were gone, they were too baffled to wonder what the hell had happened. When Felix suggested going to bed again, his party nodded in agreement and hastily jumped into their safe havens again, far away from strange talking creatures with long ears who were way too happy to clean you on the in- and outside. They slept in peace, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a pretty hard day.

./../……

Somewhere in the forbidden forest, Saturos was rushing through the fog, trying not to trip and making as little noise as possible. His armour was shredded, his chest exposed to the biting cold, but as a Proxian, he as immune to the chill that was still above zero degrees. His bluish hair was matted against his face as he ran, out of breath and desperate. In his arms he carried some herbs and berries, the only thing he could find in the freezing cold of the dark wood.

Hurrying in no obvious direction, Saturos kept glancing over his back, afraid that he might be followed. His red eyes gleamed feverishly and his long ears twitched on high alert. His blue skin was covered in cuts and bruises from battles with the forest's creatures, from wolves to centaurs.

The Proxian dashed over the path he and Menardi had made so long ago…ages it seemed, yet only months in reality. And as things were now, he'd soon have to face this harsh environment alone.

..At that fateful day, when he and his partner had had the bad luck of running into Isaac's party, who had been determined to stop them from saving their hometown, they had been thrown off the world. Through the abyss inside Venus lighthouse they had fallen, severely damaged after their transformation into the dragon, and through the dimension barrier far below the very bottom of Weyard.

They had been saved by their Psynergy, that had protected them from the fall, and they had ended up in the forbidden forest, injured and weak. The Proxians didn't have a clue how long they had been unconscious, and how long they had been lying on the humid earth as their Psynergy returned. When Menardi had recovered enough, her Aura Psynergy had saved them, even if it took her many tries to get it working. During her struggle, Saturos had nearly succumbed under his injuries and the constant cold, but eventually, she had managed to drag him back from the brink of death.

Forever they'd stay together, that was the oath they had sworn in those lonely, painful weeks, when their body heat had been the only comfort for one another. Sometimes they thought about Felix, and Sheba, and all the other people 'up there' as they referred to it, but more pressing matters had kept them from longing to return.

As soon as they had recovered enough to move freely again, hunger had started tormenting them, and with their bare hands they had started hunting, like the northern tribes had done in the always harsh times. Soon, they found that the forest they were in was both huge and dangerous. To eat, they had to fight fierce battles, and especially in the beginning these often resulted in physical harm. At least, the flame users didn't have any trouble making fire in the moist forest.

Things had become easier when one day Saturos had found his sword embedded in a burnt tree. He guessed that the impact had set the thing on fire. He didn't mull too long about the tree though. With a weapon, still razor sharp, he could give them a serious advantage in battle. The Proxians had adapted to the forest in no time, and after a few weeks of roaming through the thicket, they had found a cave.

Saturos had single-handedly taken out the creatures that lived there, and with Menardi's help he had turned the cave into a safe place for both of them. Things had been going relatively well, until a few days before Felix lit Mars lighthouse. Menardi had fallen ill, and Saturos could feel her Psynergy level dropping frighteningly. For days he had searched the woods alone, trying to find enough food for her. Like a wild animal hunting for two, he had become even more vicious in his attacks.

The man had strayed further and further, until he had penetrated into the centaurs' hunting grounds. His first meeting with the half-horses had ended with him being beaten into unconsciousness, and he had woken up outside of their territory with a couple of broken ribs. Even his sword hadn't been enough to defeat them, and his Psynergy was lower than ever before.

Still, he had managed to get his partner through her crisis, but somehow she had never really recovered. The strain this life was putting on them began taking its tole. This wasn't nature…in nature they were the dominant species, but the magical aura in the forbidden forest nibbled away at their strength, beating them down ever so slowly.

When eventually the forest creatures stopped coming anywhere near the Proxians' cave, Saturos and Menardi head been forced to go and ventured further into the woods. Out of them seemed impossible. Days of travelling, and still they couldn't see the end of all those trees.

Only three days ago, they had invaded the centaurs' territory again, and they had been forced to flee in the battle that followed. But they still had to hunt. While they had been tracking a strange back-like creature, a sudden coldness had befallen them, and Menardi had been frozen solid for some crucial moments.

Saturos had whipped out his sword, but he found that whatever was attacking them was immune to the steel. The thing, one of at least five that surrounded them, grabbed the Proxian's sword with a slimy pale hand and flung it into the trees. Saturos didn't let go, and as a result he was thrown into the air. He crashed against a tree and fell to the ground, and he had barely shaken away his dizziness when he saw three of the black-robes monsters hovering near his lover.

Menardi couldn't move. Her mind was numbed, her body went limp, and all kinds of nightmarish visions barraged her in the freezing cold. When things became too much for her to take, she uttered a tormented sob, and fell unconscious. She slid to the ground, and she was caught by one of the creatures. It cradled her and almost caressingly, it pushed away her long blonde hair out of her face. It didn't stare at her red markings, and it didn't hesitate any longer to bow over her, ready to do its cruel job.

At this sight, Saturos summoned all the strength he had and stood up, the red spikes on his shoulders crackling with Psynergy. With a raw cry, his fangs bared, he erupted into a violent tremor of energy.

The Dementors never knew what hit them as they were incinerated in Saturos' flames that licked at their empty souls, burning away the impurity of their existence.

The centaurs, on the other hand, some of them with burns from their previous fight, knew full well what had happened. Saturos only narrowly managed to escape from them when they came to extinguish the fire, and to kill the ones that threatened the forest.

…now, the Proxian was running as if his life depended on it. He hurried to the place where he had left Menardi last night, and prayed that she wasn't dead yet. When he reached her, she was breathing frighteningly shallowly, and Saturos knelt down beside her, tears streaming down his reddened face in worry.

When Menardi felt his presence, a glowing warm light in the darkness around her, she opened her eyes, and watched him. She could feel her body giving its all to keep functioning, but at this rate, she knew she wouldn't make it. Somehow ,she didn't feel all that reluctant to go. She should've died at the day at Venus lighthouse.

The thing that hurt her the most was the fact that if she left, Saturos would remain behind. His worry broke her heart, and Menardi wished nothing more for him than being happy and safe…he had such a wonderful smile, and his caresses still lingered in her mind, treasured memories she'd always carry. Saturos was sophisticated, twisted and yet so gentle, a true gentleman, and on the inside kind and caring. Only his sense of duty caused problems sometimes, and his pride.

So Menardi continued to fight, her determination fuelled by the warmth that flowed through her body anew when Saturos cradled her in his arms, shielding her from harm. The man dug his head into her hair, and she weakly returned the embrace, her long fingers trailing his spine until she fell asleep.

And Saturos continued to hold her.

Forever, if he could.

TBC

Disclaimer: copy-paste from all the previous chapters me no own teh characters 'n setting

well, this focus on the Proxian duo's quite unexpected, believe me...anyway, next chapter, school's starting again.

...and btw, R&R, it still makes me happy...sorry for not updating sooner, really.


	11. preparations and professors

disclaimer: ...what?...NO I don't own HP or GS. What'd ya think?

well, to all my reviewers up till now, much thankies, you make me all so happy! x)

All I can tell you now is that a part of this chapter has now driven the fic into a clear (to me, that is)direction. I only hope my motivation is IC enough. But now on with it!

Chapter 6: preparations and professors

The next morning, the four Adepts slept through the early hours, and a good while into midday. They were all quite exhausted after the rather strange night, and a whole day of heavy mental work had tired them out as much as a day of Psynergy training would have done. Sleeping this long wasn't what the children of medieval times were accustomed to, as adventurers who woke up with the rooster's cry.

As a result, they weren't exactly refreshed by all those hours of deep sleep, and they all felt a bit numb and groggy. The usual morning greetings were forgotten as they desperately tried to get the fuzz out of their brains, but even after a cold drench from Picard, whose Douse backfired a bit (which had never happened before), they were still gloomy.

When the four had finally dragged themselves into the common room, a hopeless, despair-laden silence fell over them. Jenna hung lifelessly in a two-seater, her legs dangling off the armrest. Sheba was striding from one corner of the room to another, a dull stressy feeling building up inside her. Picard was leaning against a wall, staring at the floor as he was lost in thought, and Felix was sitting in an armchair, slumped into it with a look of sheer annoyance with himself, his brows furrowed together, his brown eyes closed.

Neither of them spoke, or at least, none of them could find the right words to express their feelings. Ever since Dumbledore's order to refrain from using their powers, they had at first gladly agreed. It couldn't be so hard, after all, now that there wouldn't be any need to use Psynergy in battle or to force their way through dungeons.

Only, from the moment they had started paying attention to their day-to-day usage of nature's powers, the Adepts had found just how dependant they had become. Years of training had resulted in an almost absolute control over their respective elements, and Psynergy had become a constant unwavering force in their lives.

Picard for example, had used water-based Psynergy for longer than his friends had lived, and he still used it everyday for various reasons, as a habit, and in such subtle amounts that if he didn't pay attention to it he hardly felt himself doing it.

He cooled or warmed the water he came in contact with, ha played around with water surfaces when he was bored, and a Douse would always come in handy for dry plants or cooling his soup. After he had caught himself casting Psynergy for the twenty-seventh time in three hours he had lost count. It was like a tic.

Jenna was astounded at how often she compulsively set things on fire when she was bored, annoyed or when she was curious about how a certain material burned. Also, she used to form a little orb of fire in the palm of her hand when no one was around and enjoy the warmth. Fireplaces provided playing material as well, and there were plenty of them in the wizard world. In fact, she was the one ho had set the fireplace in the common room ablaze, as it was now crackling dully, thriving of her own power due to the lack of fire wood.

Sheba wasn't looking forward to the complete prohibition either. She knew better than to dig into people's minds, but if she'd have thoroughly block them all…Resisting the temptation of getting extra information in a conversation would prove to be troublesome. Also, not zapping annoying people or refraining from letting the winds she conjured caress her wouldn't be a 'breeze' either.

Even Felix had his little habits, although his main outlet for his power would always be direct combat. Before Picard and Jenna had perfected their Aura and Ply Psynergies, casting Cure on little injuries had become a second nature to him. Using Move and Catch and various other physical Psynergy had also often been convenient, but he'd have to stop doing that in the very near future.

…

In the silence of a room filled with restless young people, the four agreed on one thing.

Quitting Psynergy cold turkey wasn't going to be easy at all.

Felix sensed his comrades' worry and queasiness over the matter better than his own. Eventually, he decided to take his responsibility as the unofficial leader of their party.

Addressing them all, he broke the silence with his soft but determined voice.

"Say, guys…you don't actually think I'll make you follow that old man's order about our Psynergy-use…"

Three pairs of eyes darted weird looks at him. "What?"

Felix sighed. "He can't expect us to just 'snap', stop doing it…we all know that. Besides, what's the use of that request? All he wants is to avoid confusion among his students, but that only means we have to prevent that they'll _see_ us using Psynergy. For as far as we know, they have no means to detect Psynergy , especially if they can't see our aura…" with 'aura' he was referring to the bright blue rings of Psynergy that enveloped them when calling upon the forces of nature and the change in light in the near vicinity of a caster.

Jenna started giving the idea more thought. "Sure bro'….you do have a point, but…they _can_ see our glow. Dumble-diggy could see it, too." she said.

Sheba suppressed a snort at Dumbledore's new nickname and delved deeper. "Well, he could only see it faintly…so I guess we could make a compromise. We stop using Psynergy that causes visible changes or that produces a visible aura, and we won't be bothered with trying to stop ourselves from doing our daily things…I think we all have our routines and quirks, and we don't even see the aura on ourselves anymore. It's as if those little things have grown on us to a level of subconscious casting."

After this observation, Picard chimed in. "That's right…I don't see you all glowing all day, but I know you're using your powers. Sheba has offered a quite reasonable solution. There was no problem to begin with…that's kind of…awk-..ward…" his voice trailed as he remembered how glum things were looking mere minutes ago. Sheba and Jenna now realised this, too.

Then, the girls became a bit irritated. Looking at Felix, they asked.

"And WHY didn't you tell this sooner. You could've spared us a whole night of worrying, you know!"

Felix blinked.

"Ah…well, I hadn't quite thought about it until now…" he grinned shyly, his brown hair falling over his eyes as he suddenly laughed softly. "Sorry." Then he became serious again.

"But now that we've reached a conclusion, I'll say this again. I don't expect you to obey Dumbledore in this."

Picard cast him a mildly worried look. "You want us to betray his trust?"

"No. All I'm saying is that, even if he's the headmaster of this school, I'm still in charge over our team. When he gave that order, none of us had any idea what we were up against, so I allow you to consider that order invalid. I trust you to keep our powers hidden like we have done in Weyard as well, and if anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame." Felix concluded. He was indeed the leader of their party, and with it came certain liberties and responsibilities.

His resolve to cover for them in case of a mishap earned him three worried and semi-angry looks. Jenna wasn't entirely convinced.

"But Felix, you can't say you'll be responsible for everything we do wrong! It's not your burden to take, not again."

Picard and Sheba were about to say something similar, when Felix raised his hand and silenced his friends.

"…and just what makes you think you'll screw up? Come on, show some confidence! We can do this, the only thing we have to do is make use of this 'magic' we're learning instead of our natural powers." He rose from his chair, his entire posture lengthening and showing his allies once more that he was a charismatic and capable leader, despite the fact that he tended to be rather silent.

"There's no need to worry about me…in this case you have to see taking responsibility as a thing I have to do as a fail-safe. Nothing can go wrong as long as we show just a little bit of extra discipline. There's no reason to deny that we are Adepts and deceive ourselves…"

When Felix was finished, Sheba, Jenna and Picard felt much better about the whole thing. They all agreed to the limited use of Psynergy, but not before making sure Felix wouldn't be the dupe of this luxury.

Picard patted his friend on the shoulder amicably. "Okay, Felix. I'm glad we could sort things out. But please, do us all a favour and relax a bit as well. You may be our 'leader', but you're still our friend, too." The mariner smiled, but a hint of sadness shone in his golden irises as he remembered Felix' tendency to take matters concerning his family and friends too personally.

Felix nodded in return with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me…like I said, there's no reason to assume we'll be punished. Dumbledore'll never find out."

However, in his mind he strengthened his own secret decision. He'd never allow himself to loosen up like he allowed his party to, simply because he didn't know for sure whether the headmaster was able to trace Psynergy-usage or not. He pounded it deeper into his brain.

'_Just to make sure…I can't have my friends stress too much, but I'll have to cover for them if the old man ever finds out. And to be able to cover for them, I'll have to be clean. I will not use Psynergy anymore. Nobody will be able to blame them for what _I_ allowed them to do, if only _I_ can manage to restrain myself…'_

With their spirits lifted, unaware of Felix' resolve, the Adepts were ready to face the day. Even if it was almost two o'clock, much was bound to happen on the day where hundreds of students would arrive.

The four of them savoured the peace of the common room some more while having a late breakfast, and imagined how in Weyard so many Gryffindors were to fit in a room like this. Especially Felix didn't look forward to being surrounded by people ages eleven to eighteen, none of them known to him, but to keep his mind off that his friends decided to start preparing for the beginning of the first term.

Soon, they were sitting on the floor surrounded by books of writers with the most ridiculous names, Potions equipment, parchment, ink and quills. Jenna had strewn the contents of the box Hagrid had brought with them from their trip to Diagon Alley all over their dormitory as she checked out everything they had bought. Felix, being the responsible brother he was, was tailing her, picking up books left and right where she left them after a first brief inspection.

Whenever he had a staple of them, he dragged them over to the table where Sheba and Picard were dividing them on the beds in categories from subject to subject. A fine mess it was, but half an hour later they could finally take one book each and stuff them into their drawers. The writing equipment was divided as well, although Jenna got less material than the rest. With her being such a messy writer, Picard thought it'd be more effective to force her to use her parchment sparingly instead of only telling her to stop spattering ink everywhere.

When that matter was closed, they also found their timetables inside the box. On their first meeting with Dumbledore they had all agreed to take the same basic courses, to avoid missing pieces of lessons when the victim to provide memories wouldn't have taken them. Somewhere in the back of their, or rather Harry's, mind a memory of OWLs still lingered, but they shrugged it off as being rather irrelevant. Harry's skills seemed to suffice for charms, transfiguration, DADA and various others, although the word 'potions' was associated with rather nasty memories.

Felix and Jenna 'd be in Harry's class, while Picard and Sheba were to attain the Ravenclaws' classes, even if the wind and water adepts would stay in Gryffindor's dormitories. If they had been split up among Hufflepuff or even Slytherin, this exceptional intrusion would have been rather hard to justify, but Dumbledore hoped that the lion's cubs wouldn't be too flustered by two ravens entering their territory. Picard and Sheba didn't get to know the Ravenclaws' password, and they had both promised not to tell anyone the Fat Lady's password as well.

Talking about passwords, the Energists had been rather weirded out by the talking painting and her passwords. The current one, although a new one would be set as soon as the students arrived, happened to be 'Thor's embarrassment'. Somehow, the words were quite appealing to the Adepts, as they couldn't help but imagine what exactly had could be the lightning god's 'embarrassment'. Sheba wondered where the hell she had gotten the inspiration for the dirty images in her head, and blamed it on the songs Garet cheered loudly and proudly when he was drunk.

Anyway, once the logistic preparations were made, the four about-to-be students decided to check the locations of the classrooms during the few hours they had left.

With their wands at hand, their black robes donned and no clue where to go, they set out on the perilous journey, a journey that'd lead them into the castle instead of out of it.

The first 'peril' they encountered wasn't as dangerous as Harry made it appear: only a few hallways from the dormitory, they ran into a tall, meagre woman with the weirdest glasses they had ever seen. She smelled like she had hung out in Prox's pub for too long as a haze of alcohol hung around her. When she found herself in front of four rather surprised young people, her glassy look turned a bit more focused.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Did I miss the ceremony?" She started looking in all directions as if the answer was written in the air somewhere. When she was greeted by silence –none of the adepts recalled who she was yet or how they should react-, she turned her attention to Felix' party again.

Felix now ignored _her_ and turned his head to face his friends. As if she wasn't listening, he questioned his allies, whispering bashfully, taken aback by this peculiar woman.

"Umm, I know human relationships aren't my speciality but….aren't teachers supposed to be sober?"

Picard considered that for a moment before whispering back, his eyes full of wonder at the display trained on Trelawney. "Well, from what I know I can tell you teachers are usually wise, strict and yes, sober." The divination teacher huffed when the meaning of those words seeped into her mind.

"Just what are you implying? Are you saying my inner eye is clouded by the vile poison of…alcohol?" she hiccupped.

Now Sheba couldn't resist being cheeky. With a mean glint she addressed the seer directly. "Well, ma'am, we're not discussing your _inner_ eye, we're more concerned over that _outer_ red nose of yours."

Jenna giggled "Woo, good one…"

Trelawney started shouting now, becoming quite red in her face. "How _dare_ you, you- you…brats!"

Felix and co ignored her again. Picard was scolding Sheba for her rudeness, Felix agreed, while Jenna defended their magician by reminding them that she was indeed right about 'that hag'. The four were still 'privately' discussing the matter and Trelawney was still having a drunk fit when a certain dark-clad ominous wizard came striding into the hall.

Snape didn't quite trust his own sanity when he saw the four Adepts bickering with his colleague weeping next to them.

These four troublemakers wouldn't have to count on any sympathy from him...

TBC

well, eh...R&R lads 'n lassies XD constructive criticism appreciated still


	12. the snake and the students

awllrighty! there I go again... damn this too me a long time... and now that school's stated I'll have so much to do, too... Last year of high school... creepy. I've never been in a last year of any school, because I skipped the sixth elementary. It's a new experience.. or not. My class is still the same bunch of bozos from before.. gotta love 'em.

anyway, muuch thanks for the reviews, so lets get on with it!

ow yeah... I don't own anything that is described here

Chapter 7: the snake and the students

Resisting the urge to wipe his eyes out to get a clearer view, Snape was slowly filled with disdain at the sight of Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Picard.

The image both surprised and enraged him. There weren't supposed to be any students yet, especially not in the vicinity of a now sobbing teacher. The kids, the most peculiar students, but students none the less, seemed to be drawn into their own conversation, and they hadn't noticed the sleek, pale man arrive.

With a shudder of disgust, Snape noticed that one of the two boys was wearing a school robe with trimmed hems, something he knew the dress code of Hogwarts would never tolerate. The two girls looked way too nosy and rude than could be good for them, and the second brown-haired boy had an air of power and authority over him that reminded Snape awfully much of a mixture between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. His first impression was one of definite dislike, and once he realised they were to become his students, judging from their robes, he was utterly unable to believe this was possible.

Entrances into the school, worthy of Harry Potter, coming unnoticed and causing a ruckus from the first day on…and _why_ hadn't Dumbledore informed him about this! That old coot was obviously suffering from his age, taking rash decisions, and not even bothering to inform his staff about four new students. For Snape, Dumbledore's…self-sufficientness was becoming troublesome indeed.

A jolt ran through Sheba's body when she spied the loathsome man in the corners of her eyes. She gasped and jumped up, several of Harry's most extreme memories invading her mind as she looked at Snape. Picard and Felix now looked at him, too, and Jenna had stopped yelling at Trelawney to 'aw shut the hell up!'. Soon, four looks met Snape's glare with equal disdain. Felix swooped in front of his party, and Picard came to stand next to him.

Although Snape was taken aback by the piercing brown and golden gazes, he didn't fail to notice that despite how similar these two were to Harry in behaviour, defying and proud, they were definitely not the same. They were calmer, and experienced. They at least managed to hide the mean glint in their eyes that Harry's always bore upon facing his nemesis teacher. Instead, they sent a clear message.

'We don't want any trouble with you. Don't mess with us.' Those eyes said. 'Go away.'

Somehow, Snape felt the urge to leave rising in him. When he snapped out of it, shaken by the fact that he hadn't felt the hairs in his neck rise since his last meeting with Voldemort, he regained his cold composure and reminded himself of the fact that however charismatic, they were still Hogwarts students, and he was a teacher and a user of powerful magic.

Suddenly Felix' look softened. "I'm sorry for the commotion Professor." He said calmly, addressing Snape in a polite way Harry would have never managed to bring convincingly. "We think professor Trelawney needs to visit the hospital wing…she is now well at all, if I may say so."

Picard also fell back into his wise, tranquil Lemurian style. He nodded at Felix' words, a bit ashamed how he had let Harry's memories get the better of him. He did believe that this individual was up to no good, but he'd just have to let that slip for now. There was no reason to pick a fight with a teacher, and he did believe Harry's opinion was rather biased.

Snape was surprised at this turnaround of the adepts' attitude, to say the least. Somewhere deep inside, he was particularly flattered by being called 'professor', without having to snarl at them to pay some respect first. It felt as if these kids were able to recognise his often harmed dignity, which made Snape much more inclined to be mellower with them than with Harry, no matter how much Felix reminded him of the boy.

Felix and Picard prayed that Jenna'd be able to keep her mouth shut.

Now that the tension was gone, Snape allowed himself to ask a question. "You're probably right about Professor Trelawney…" he admitted after casting the seer a look "but what are you four doing here? For as far as I am concerned, no students are permitted to be inside Hogwarts until this afternoon. How did you get in, and where did you come from?" he asked calmly, but with a hint of viciousness that always crept into his tone.

Jenna had stopped trying to silence Trelawney, and was close to getting a headache, but Snape's words snapped her out of it. With her deep brown eyes, she observed the man closely, taxing him cautiously. She was a warrior after all… and Snape recognised the same wary expression on her features that showed on Sheba's face. Somehow the girls impressed him, just like the boys.

Sheba wasn't cheeky anymore, Jenna was cut short of her cheerfulness, but both shared the same straightforward calm observing gaze, identifying a potential enemy. Years of travelling, hiding and encountering foes that challenged them out of the blue had taught them a hard lesson. If they had had their weapons with them, they'd have secretly readied them, without seeming threatening. But soon their initial caution wore off when they saw that Felix and Picard had already set up a –peaceful- first contact. So they came to join their two 'protectors' and smiled politely. Sheba couldn't resist nodding her head a bit in a curt bow, derived from the formal greeting her people used.

Felix took the word to answer. " Well, Professor, we are new here… sir Dumbledore is aware of us being here, so I do not think we are doing anything wrong by preparing ourselves for the start of the first term this evening. And you want to know where we are from…we are transfer students from another school. You might want to ask the Headmaster himself for more details, since the program that sent us here was never truly explained to us. We are here to follow the lessons of the sixth year, and nothing more." The teen nearly coughed at this blatant lie, but Dumbledore had said he'd cover for them, so…

When Snape seemed satisfied by his explanation – Snape made a mental note that he would _certainly_ have a serious word with the headmaster – Felix introduced himself and his party.

"My name is Felix, and I am to be taken in by Gryffindor's house, along with my sister, Jenna." Jenna looked at Snape at the sound of her name and smiled pleasantly. "That'd be me." she said. Snape nodded in acknowledgement, and then looked at the two new Ravenclaws.

Felix made a gesture at Picard now. "This is Picard. He will be joining Ravenclaw, together with Sheba." he motioned towards the Laliveran princess.

Snape cast them all a look, examining them closely. He could tell the houses they were assigned to from the coloured parts of their robes, but something else bothered him. One of his brows rose slowly. "And you'll all attend the sixth year?" he asked, looking at Sheba.

"I'm short for my age, sir." she said indignantly, looking a bit miffed. Well, she wasn't really short for her age, just short. But it still bugged her when people judged by height. She was glad that at least Ivan was her height, and he was older. She teased her fellow seer about that often –never really meaning it, of course, just to get a reaction-, but the boy was way to chivalrous to say anything back. He only looked at her shyly and tried to hide his blush.

Sheba said he was a little wuss -even if she didn't really think that-, Ivan himself thought that it wasn't nice to insult girls. It was as simple as that. Picard often had to smile at the young magician. Shy, wise and calm, and yet not fully mature when it came to interacting with the female population. He'd be a loving and caring husband and father someday, the Lemurian knew for sure. Just like Hammet, even if the man wasn't his 'real' dad.

Snape took the wind adept's curt answer in and believed it. Before he could make a comment about Picard's robe and hair however, Trelawney made herself heard again. During the brief introduction, she had been silent to hear more, but suddenly, the alcohol caught up with her and she tottered to the ground rather ungracefully.

Snape hurriedly held her up, and then snappily ordered Felix and Picard to help him take her to the hospital wing. The two dutifully helped their teacher, and the man was surprised to see that they could easily handle the fainted woman on their own. In the end, Felix hoisted her onto Picard's back, and then they stood there, glancing up and down the hall.

"Now what are you waiting for?" he asked.

Jenna and Sheba had been looking around as well, and the fire adept answered for her friends.

"Directions?" she tried nervously.

Snape took a moment to realise that they were indeed new around here, and then gruffly took the lead. "Follow me."

The adepts did as they were told, Picard close behind Snape and having not the least bit of trouble with the female on his back. Sheba who tailed behind him felt, much to her own discomfort, a sting of jealousy at the sight of the unconscious woman so close to the mariner. It was as if the young mage thought Trelawney was defiling Picard by not being utmost grateful for being allowed to touch the immortal. When Sheba noticed herself having these feelings, she backed off a little, but she couldn't stop being a little mad at the drunk lady.

Jenna was looking around, as usual, and let Harry's memories tell her what she was seeing. Felix did so, too, although he occasionally asked Snape where they were, to get more information and to avoid arousing suspicion. Right before they arrived at their destination, Picard thought about asking the most basic of questions to ask a teacher.

"Which subject do you teach, sir?"

Snape looked at him. "Oh, I haven't mentioned it? My name is Professor Snape, and I used teach the potions class. This year I'll be giving the Defence against the Dark Arts lessons. Professor Trelawney" he motioned at the woman, barely resisting to poke her "is in charge of Divination, but she shares the job with Professor Firenze. I may add that she is most displeased about this situation, and that she tends to take unwise measures to cheer herself up." A disdainful look crossed his features.

"Well, if you really are from another school, then you must be surprised to find a Hogwarts' teacher in such a state, but I can assure you that this is certainly not the way things are done in this school. Alcohol, tobacco and chewing gum are all prohibited here, and breaking the rules will not be tolerated." he added.

All four adepts nodded rhetorically. They knew, through Harry, what tobacco and chewing gum were, and even if they all had drunk alcohol before –none of them could imagine that the modern alcohol could be so strong-, they weren't inclined to break the rules _and_ risk a headache. Picard had never cared about liquor anyway… after seeing what it could do to decent Lemurians, including his uncle, he preferred to stay away from the stuff.

When the door to the medical ward revealed itself from behind the last corner, they all increased their pace for the last few steps. They entered and were greeted by a booming 'Not again!'. Madame Pomfrey came hurriedly towards them and told Picard to lay Trelawney one of the beds. With Felix' help, he did so, and by the time they had distanced themselves from her, the head nurse came back with a vial of oddly coloured fluid.

Without hesitating, she held the woman's nose, crunched open her mouth and poured the vial's contents in. While Trelawney started hiccupping horribly, Pomfrey clapped her hands together. "That should do it… I won't keep using my smelling salt forever, so this should keep her sober for at least a week."

Only when she saw the four energists looking at her, wide-eyed, slack-jawed and confused, she turned to greet them. "Well hello, have you never seen someone using a potion or something? .. Hey, I haven't seen you before, and why are you here yet? Am I late?" This time, Snape introduced them, and explained that they were new students. Pomfrey noted that and checked on Trelawney again, who was now getting a faint shade of green, muttering something like 'oh well, as long as they don't cause any trouble…' Then the divination teacher fell asleep at a wave of the nurse's wand. "That should do it."

She and Snape began talking, ignoring the adepts' shocked stares. The potion had unnerved them a great deal. "That's the fifth time this week. I swear, if she doesn't get over Firenze taking half of the lessons soon, I'll have to ask Flitwick to put a charm on her door.. the kind that prevents alcohol from getting into her secret stash up there. If only she knew that half of the time it's Firenze who brings her here. He's getting really worried, but he can't go back into the forest… Sibyll must realise that, too."

Felix and his friends had started listening in. Jenna was beginning to feel excited when she realised that Firenze was a centaur, and she couldn't wait to see him, but she felt a bit sorry for the human divination teacher as well. In the girl's opinion, she was stupid for drinking too much, but it was kind of sad to be thrown out for no reason. All of them remembered the incident with Professor Umbridge from Harry's last year.

Then, Snape noticed that they were eavesdropping. "This is none of your business, Thank you for your help, but you may go now. You may want to go to the great hall, or rather to the entrance hall, so you can blend in when the students arrive. That should be in an hour or so, but that might be the time it'll take to get there when you don't know your way around here. You can always ask the paintings."

"Now go!" he snapped when the new students hung around for a few moments longer. When they were finally gone, their presence lingered for a moment longer.

Even with their peculiar aura and Picard's odd hair, Snape, Trelawney and Pomfrey already considered them 'their' students.

They had done their first successful steps towards acceptation.

TBC for sure ;-)

umm... if you likey, reviewey as well? XD


	13. arrivals and attention

Chapter 8: arrivals and attention

"Phew, we made it!"

Half an hour later, -without any help from the paintings- Felix and his party arrived at the giant doors of the entrance hall. Somehow they had found the way by only relying on Harry's memories. When they saw the huge doors, they vividly remembered themselves sneaking inside, and then being taken by surprise by Filch and Peeves.

It was refreshing to reminisce on their _own_ memories again… envisioning Harry's memories was tiring, and it left them feeling fuzzy and irritable. They took their time to recover from that now…In half an hour, the students would be arriving through the same doors. During that time, they'd try to relax and settle down a bit after their first encounter with the Hogwarts' teachers.

Jenna was playing with a fire orb in a corner, leaning against the wall, a Psynergy one, and the glow calmed and warmed her in the chilly grand room. Picard and Sheba sat on the staircase, clearing their minds. Picard was leaning against one of the cold marble statues that lined the stairs, and Sheba was leaning against him, sighing contently when he put his arm around her, letting her rest.

All Sheba's envious feelings from before vanished with that simple kind gesture, because she knew he'd never try to do that with Trelawney. Sheba snuggled deep into his arms, putting her head on his chest while faking to be slumbering, savouring every moment and enjoying his warmth. It wasn't Jenna's and Felix' kind of body heat, but it was a gentle, cosy warmth that never became uncomfortable. Soon, she was sleeping lightly, breathing calmly.

Felix watched them, glad that everything was okay now, and smiled sadly when he saw his sister using Psynergy. He had allowed her to, and he was happy to see the almost therapeutic effect it had on her. He was also reminded of his resolve not to use his powers himself, and he strengthened it. He started walking around, striding from one corner of the voluminous hall to the other, taking in deep and cooling breaths, to calm his wildly beating heart.

He was mentally preparing for the big moment, when all those people would come streaming in.

When they'd have to 'blend in', and act as if they had just come in, along with the others.

When all kinds of questions would be asked.

When they'd meet Harry again.

When people would…

… he stopped thinking. So many things could happen, so many buttons could be pushed, his party could reveal their powers, or they could make other people get angry, they could say odd things, or say too little, and, and, and…

Felix forced himself to stop pacing around frantically, and stood still in the centre of the room, on the carpet that muffled his hard steps, surrounded by tons of beige marble and stone and memories and magic, and the walls that would be their home for a year. A cool chill blew across his shoulders. He shuddered, unprotected by his heavy scarf, his neck exposed where his ponytail didn't cover his skin. His heart was still thumping loudly, and he faintly wondered when it would finally break out of its cage.

He felt an inexplicable urge to use his powers, to make things grow, to shake the building, to destroy or to heal, but he restrained himself. It were just nerves, probably. Since his very early teens, he had been exposed to danger and harsh conditions. Growing up fast was essential in Prox, and as the one who would have to betray his own village, 'nerves' weren't alien to him. Often he had felt this way, the nervous tension driving him to a dangerous edge of his consciousness, but he always returned to reality when the feared moment arrived. By then he was prepared, but that didn't take away the fact that he was slowly beginning to panic.

Ten more minutes. His deep connection with nature enabled him to tell the time exactly. The students would be arriving soon, so soon…His brown eyes, widened from before, now dropped close, and Felix felt himself breathing slowly, almost shallowly. He felt the air run through his lungs, and a faint numbness spread through his body. The fog in his mind cleared away, and he regained his rationality, and his determination. The little crisis was over.

Felix calmly strode to the middle of the hall, and faced the doors. With a soft, warm gaze, he observed them. A glint of a challenge flashed in his eyes before he turned his back to them, his posture now full of confidence, his expression showing his change in attitude. A victorious smile brightened up his features as he pushed some of his bangs behind his ears.

_Let's do this._

With a look that couldn't be mistaken, showing his identity of a leader and someone who never gave up, he inspected his party.

Picard returned the look, and nodded with a smile, his golden eyes gleaming softly. For him, Felix had passed the test again, and he would be glad to follow him in everything he wanted from them.

_I won't let you down._

Sheba glanced at her leader from under Picard's silver-blue headdress, shoving the veil away a little with one hand she didn't need to cling to the Lemurian. Her emerald eyes gleamed cunningly and ready to face this new way of living.

_You can count on me._

Jenna had been observing her brother for a while. She had been a little worried at his irritable pacing and the red blush that had formed on his cheeks, but she had clearly seen when a new wind had blown through his soul. The warmth of the fireball in her hand was no comparison for the warmth that had flowed through her heart at the sight. Felix was himself again, down-to-earth, wise and strong. Jenna smiled happily when she felt his piercing gaze on her.

_Ready when you are, my brother._

Felix gave them all an appraising nod in return, and retreated to a safe spot near the entrance. A few minutes later, he was gladly joined by his party, his friends, and his family…

_We're ready now._

And ready was exactly what the had to be. The sky had darkened, with heavy September clouds rolling and tossing about a few miles above ground level. They were almost showing off, and Sheba started to wonder if they hadn't turned up only because Dumbledore wanted to set the atmosphere for the new first years.

Picard got the chills when he heard, and nearly felt the raindrops tinkling against the building, dousing the hall in a rumbling sound, that rose to the loud sound of a washing river quickly. He moved a little to indicate that he was getting up, and Sheba let him go. The mariner lightly stepped down the stairs, soon followed by the wind Adept, and joined Felix down by the doors. The air had cooled off again, and the rain seemed to seep through the pores of the walls, to settle down on their faces. Jenna snatched the fireball out of the air quickly, and completed the party. In silence, they waited, every one of them harbouring anxious and curious feelings towards the muffled rattling of the carriages coming towards them.

Then, in a matter of moments it all happened. Where the sound of the rain had lingered, a low thud, followed by the mighty creaking of the enormous doors, filled the hall. Hagrid pushed open the wooden panels, dripping wet, and he was gone again before Felix and his allies could even say hello to him. The wind suddenly bellowed inside, bringing the wetness inside with it. Jenna yelped and scooted back, deeper into the castle, and away from the offending fluid. Sheba decided to take her distance, too, and Picard and Felix moved a little towards the sides of the room. It felt as if a giant monster was emerging from outside, its force threatening and deadly, but they remained calm.

Hagrid returned soon, and this time, he was followed by a flood of moving, soaking wet bodies, that hurried to get inside. Jenna and Sheba were separated from their friends quickly in the entering masses, but Felix and Picard managed to keep a clear view on them from their still relatively vacant spot. When Hagrid had ushered the last students inside, he moved past the two of them, and greeted them hastily, but warmly.

"Hey, there you are! I've been wond'ring already… well, I've gotta get these closed now. Urrggg…" Hagrid began pushing the doors closed again, but the wind seemed to think otherwise.

Felix and Picard rushed towards him, and helped the half-giant. Picard flashed a grin at the man, but quickly turned his head to face the entryway again when the wind blew his headdress into his eyes. Sheba saw it happening from afar, and threw in a little Psynergy, no real technique, just to tone down the force a little.

Not too much later, the doors sealed shut with a loud 'Clack', and the silence returned… mostly.

Now, the hall was full of young people who were wiping the rain out of their faces, wringing out the hems of their robes, and of course, busy chattering and murmuring as if they were three times the crowd they were. Somewhere in that mess, Harry, Hermione and Ron were huddled together, Ron complaining about the weather, Hermione agreeing and adding her opinion on it, and Harry listening to the two of them.

In all that billowing moistness, Jenna and Sheba tried to reach the boys without getting too wet themselves. In their black robes, they didn't have to worry about blending in at all. Three times, Jenna tried to find an opening in the wall of people in front of her, but to no avail. In the end, she growled furiously, unheard against the deafening background noise, and plunged in, pulling a protesting Sheba along with her. Some Ravenclaws blocking her path complained loudly when the redhead pushed them away, and a group of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors gave way quickly when they saw her making her way towards them.

"Hey, I've never seen THEM before…"

"Watch out! Wait, who are you, anyway?.."

Jenna ignored them all, and was quickly forgotten by most. Somehow, she manoeuvred herself right into Harry's group while trying to reach her brother and the Lemurian. A foolish comment from Ron's side, or, more exactly, a lot of stupid remarks from him, had already ticked off Hermione enough to have them glowering at each other, but when Jenna aggressively stomped the girl in the side to get her out of the way, the talented young mage wouldn't take it just like that.

"And WHAT did you think you were doing?" she grasped Jenna's sleeve and pulled her in, shouting at the Adept over the clamours.

"Well _excuse _me!" Jenna shouted back defiantly "I want to go_ there_ " she pointed in the general direction of the doors, furrowing her brows angrily "and you're _in my way_." Sheba had the urge to slap her own forehead in embarrassment, but when she recognised Hermione and her friends, she gasped.

Meanwhile, Hagrid had left Felix and Picard to join the teachers, shaking the droplets out of his beard as he went, and the two warriors were trying to find their girls. Much to Felix' discomfort, Picard had sighted them in the middle of the crowd, and now they were inching forward through the masses, trying not to offend anyone. At least they could keep a clear view of the 'battleground', as they were tall enough to peek over the heads of the students. Jenna's ruby hair gave them the exact location to go to, and soon, they were reunited. Jenna and Hermione had already begun arguing over 'manners', and 'standing there like a cow', flanked by Ron, Harry and Sheba, when Felix and Picard emerged from the crowd.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Picard asked. When he saw Sheba standing there beet-red, he twisted himself past Harry and Ron to talk to her.

"It's them! Picard, it's _them_!" she squeaked. He turned around and recognised the three, as well. He shielded Sheba from them for a moment with his broad shoulders and bowed down to her level.

"Hey, relax… I have no idea why Jenna's picking a fight with them, but don't worry… We're just students, like them, remember?" Sheba calmed down now, and looked past her friend to see how Felix was talking to Jenna, who had turned her back towards Hermione.

Felix didn't even have to speak, when his sister saw the exasperated look in his warm brown eyes, she immediately silenced.

"Aww… Hey, uh, Hermione… I'm sorry, okay?" she grumbled, but she was honest none the less. Hermione cast her a weird look.

"Never thought I'd have to say this, but.. How do you know my name? Who are you, you look familiar, somehow." she said. Felix looked back at her, and answered truthfully.

"We were introduced to you by Hagrid, in Diagon Alley, some time ago. You've seen us there, but unfortunately, we didn't get the time to converse much with you then." His gaze took Hermione by surprise.

"Oh, I remember you lot!" Ron perked up. "You looked as if you had just had a dozen butterbeers each back then…" his voice trailed off when Hermione cast him another dark look.

"Oh, Ron! Well, apologies accepted, if you accept mine for the behaviour of this jerk over here." she rolled her eyes. Jenna didn't quite get it, but Felix, Picard and Sheba reddened a little at the thought of themselves wobbling around after Sheba's relay of information that day.

"Uh-huh…" Jenna said, clueless still.

"Well, nice to meet you again, then… Oh, I hope you're not going to be offended, but I kind of forgot your names. You seem to remember ours." Hermione rattled on, ignoring Ron and Harry's attempts to get a word in.

With a friendly conversation started, things flowed smoothly for a while. The Adepts introduced themselves again, and after a few questions back and forth, Harry's team, and a couple of bystanders were filled in about the 'new students'. A little later, the students began to migrate towards the dining halls. Felix managed to steer his allies away from the main stream, and when they got a silent moment after getting cut off from Harry and his gang, they all felt their tensions loosen a little.

Then, the next problem arose. Picard and Sheba simply followed Felix and Jenna to sit at the Gryffindor house table, completely forgetting the usual conduct. Only when people fell silent around them, and Ron rasped his throat loudly, the Adepts became aware of the fact that the two blue Ravenclaws weren't supposed to sit with them.

"Oh COME on…" Jenna sighed. To everyone's surprise, she addressed the whole little crowd that had gathered directly. "We're friends, why can't we be together, then? They're not going to do anything wrong."

A wave of objections and ohs and ahs ran through the ranks at this statement so unreal. People began saying how it was the 'rule's, the 'proper way', and how 'others couldn't be trusted', and more of that, until Dumbledore's voice boomed over their heads and made them all turn.

"Well, my children, I wanted to start my speech, but since the subject seems to have come up already, why not make it a point today? But now, sit down please." Most of the students sat down, a few remaining standing around Picard, who had halfway gotten up, and was protecting Sheba from any harm he subconsciously feared.

"You will let them sit wherever they want. But not only them. Those who wish to mingle, are from now on allowed to do so. I was about to say that trust, and friendship will be of utmost importance of the times to come." As Dumbledore went on with his planned speech, the confused murmur died down, and everyone sat down, finally. Stares flashed the Adepts' way every now and then, but soon, another distraction saved Felix from the awkwardness.

The sorting began, and, even if now the rules had changed, the newly chosen house members each trotted, hurried or stalked proudly towards their own house's table. Luckily enough, the only way to recognise Picard and Sheba as Ravenclaws were the blue markings on their black robes, so they didn't stick out as much, although Picard's short hems and headdress didn't help much.

By the time the dinner popped up all over the hall, and the teachers and students were drawn into various conversations, the atmosphere was back to normal. _Somehow,_ people thought, _every year something weird happens_. Some even added that it was nice that it wasn't Harry's 'fault', for a change.

For the rest of the afternoon, Felix, Sheba, Jenna and Picard sat together in silence. People avoided talking to them for some reason, or they were just waiting for a better moment. Nobody wanted to spoil their reunion with their friends by having awkward conversations with strange new people, after all, and the rumours were flying about like crazy. Harry's party had managed to place themselves two tables further away, so they didn't have to worry about that.

They ate quietly, and watched around, memorised faces, and listened. Nature seemed far away now.

Tonight, they'd sleep in a castle filled with people… magicians, wizards.


End file.
